Dragon Ball Heroes: A New Generation of Heroes
by KitsuneSweet
Summary: With his future in shambles, Trunks only has one option left after his time machine is stolen by Cell. He has to head into the future in a last ditch effort to find help and hope for his time line. With Bulma's newest inventions, all he can do now is wait and hope that someone will answer his call and come to his time line's aid before it's too late.
1. Prologue

**~Prologue~**

**A New Plan of Action! The Hope for The Past Lies in The Future!**

* * *

Slowly, the lavender-haired teen opened his eyes. Only meeting with the white tiled ceiling above his head.

The memory of his previous battle that landed him in the hospital bed he was lying in still fuzzy in his mind.

But all he could clearly remember was the devious chuckle of the monster before he fell unconscious from his injuries.

_"Damn it, he actually stole my time machine, how could I let this happen?!"_

Clenching his fists, Trunks was snapped out of his thoughts once he heard the door open to his room, and seeing his mother walk in with a first aid kit in her hands.

"Oh good, you're finally awake, that was too close a call back there, Trunks, I can't believe those androids beat you this badly." The blunette sighed, opening the first aid kit and began unwrapping the bandages around her son's left arm.

"It wasn't the androids that did this..." Trunks turned his head to the left, trying to avoid his mother's gaze, mentally contemplating if he should even tell her about this new threat.

"What do you mean? If it wasn't the androids, then who did this to you?" Bulma asked, dabbing Trunks' injured arm with an antiseptic-dipped cotton ball, only to turn her gaze to the expression on her son's face.

Her instincts telling her that there was something weighing heavily on Trunks' mind.

She just continued to study his expression until Trunks couldn't hold it anymore, feeling his mother's gaze burning holes in the side of his face.

"I don't know exactly what it was, but it said it was an android named Cell. I don't know where it came from. Or even how it got here. But when I saw it, it felt like it had all sorts of energies all crammed into a single body." Bulma's eyes widened, momentarily stopping her actions before continuing to treat her son's injuries.

"It was powerful... More powerful than I anticipated. I tried fighting it off, but it was too strong for me to deal with on my own. The fight is still hazy, but all I do remember is his laugh just as he stole the time machine."

Trunks' eyes narrowed into a visible glare, though his glare wasn't directed at anyone in particular, his mind was trying to enhance the fuzzy image of the green android that had stolen his time machine.

"WHAT?! IT STOLE THE TIME MACHINE?!" Bulma gasped, pressing the cotton ball a little too hard against Trunks' wound, making the teen wince.

"Ah! Yeah, it did. I don't know what it wanted the time machine for, I don't even know where it went, but I'm sorry Mom. I tried to fight him off but he was just too powerful..." Trunks trailed off, only looking away, feeling ashamed of himself for letting the time machine that his mother had worked so hard on fall into the wrong hands, his guilt only piercing into his chest even more once he thought about what the android could want the machine for.

The possibilities were endless. He could have ended up dooming another time line into the hell he was living in.

"Well, I don't know what that android could want with the time machine. But I'll bet anything that it isn't good." Bulma sighed, beginning to wrap her son's arm in a fresh set of bandages.

"I know it took a long time for you to find the supplies for the first one. I'm sorry Mom, I just can't believe I actually let someone take that time machine."

The teenager clenched the sheets within his balled fists tightly, nearly enough to rip them. His eyes continuing to glare at the door, but Bulma could tell that the glare in her son's eyes was aimed at himself.

A small sigh escaped her lips. Closing the first aid kit, the blunette rose from her seat at her son's bedside and began to walk out of the room. "Don't worry about that now Trunks, all you can do now is to focus on getting better."

"It's not just that! The last time I went into the past, it didn't help anything! The androids were still able to kill the others! Even with my warnings, they were just too strong!"

Trunks squeezed his eyes shut, he remembered his last mission all too well.

The androids in that time line were too powerful, not even his presence and warnings could save the Z warriors of that time.

And the guilt over not being able to prevent their deaths still weighed heavily on his soul.

"You know, if going into the past didn't help, maybe you should try going into the future." Bulma mused, only for Trunks to breath out a heavy sigh.

"But if the androids are still a threat I doubt that there would even be a future for us!"

"You'll never know unless you try Trunks, all I'm saying is that if one option didn't work, maybe you should think outside the box."

"But if I can't time travel anymore then what would be the point of even thinking about it? The time machine was stolen!"

"Hey! That isn't the kind of attitude you should have! Look Trunks, I know things are looking bad right now, but you can't keep blaming yourself for all of this happening! It wasn't your fault that Goku died! It wasn't your fault that these androids were created!"

Looking down at her son, Bulma saw Trunks clenching his eyes shut for a moment, only to open them slightly as he felt his mother's hand on his head, brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"I know Gohan would be telling you the same thing if he were here, stop being so hard on yourself. Just try to focus on getting better, alright?"

A soft smile spread over the blunette's face, only hearing another soft sigh escape her son's lips.

"Alright Mom. But what are you going to do now? You have that look in your eye again." The teen only earned a small chuckle from his mother as she began her stroll out of the room.

"It's going to be a surprise, I'll show you once you're feeling well enough to walk around." She finished with a wink, closing the door behind her and leaving Trunks to look up at the white ceiling above him, curious about what his mother could be up to now that the time machine was gone, time travel was impossible.

He figured it was for the best though, so far all the machine had helped him do was cause more trouble instead of preventing it. Even if he could time travel again, he was beginning to question if this mission was nothing but a big mistake.

_"Gohan, I wish you were here. You always knew what to do, I just don't know what to do anymore."_

Closing his eyes, Trunks let his mind wander. Thinking back to the many happy times he had with his mentor before he met his untimely end at the hands of the androids.

There were times when he wanted him back, where he wished that he could go back in time and stay in his time line. Just to save Gohan from dying, but knew that was an impossible feat.

He tried to curl himself up, only to wince as a sharp pain stabbed through his right side, Cell has blasted him at point-blank range, the shot alone was nearly enough to kill him.

Knowing that trying to adjust was futile, the lavender-haired teen just kept his eyes closed, trying to relax even a little bit.

Though the fact that he could have doomed another time line into the hell he was living in made it hard for him to fall asleep.

* * *

Many days had passed since then.

Trunks had made a steady recovery under his mother's watch but began to grow more curious about what his mother had planned for him.

Every night he would see the light to her underground laboratory gleaming from under the door.

There were times when he even wondered if she slept.

Every time he was to try to peek into the lab, the door would be locked or he would be told to just head back to bed by his mother.

One morning, the demi-Saiyan was sitting in his bed, unwrapping the bandages from around his torso.

His left side adorned with a large, almost circular scar that began just under his rib cage and ended just above his right hip.

He gently traced over it with his fingers, gazing at himself in a large mirror that was in his bedroom.

Over the past few days that he had spent recovering, he found himself able to remember the finer details of his encounter with the green android that stole his time machine and nearly killed him.

His eyes narrowed into a glare at the scar on his side.

It would forever be a reminder of his failure, of how he could have sent another time line into the kind of hell he was forced to live in.

But today was the day. He was fully recovered. And earlier that morning, Bulma told him that the project she had been working so hard on for the past few days was finally ready.

As Trunks tossed aside the bandages that once wrapped around his right arm, he threw on a black tank top and began his descent into his mother's lab.

He could hear the sound of a power drill whirring inside the room, and with a small sigh, the lavender-haired teen knocked on the metal door a couple of times.

"Mom? I'm here to see what you made." He was greeted with a proud grin from his mother, who had a small oil stain on her forehead, her blue hair tied back into a messy ponytail and a power drill and socket wrench in both of her hands.

"Just in time! I just finished making the final adjustments!" Bulma set the tools down on the desk next to her, and pointed at what looked like a large machine that was being covered by a large white sheet.

"Trunks, are you ready to see what's going to save us?"

"Come on Mom, you've kept this whole thing a big secret for two weeks now, I'm ready to see it." The possibilities of what his mother had created ran through Trunks' mind.

If she was capable of building a time machine, heaven knew what else Bulma was capable of creating!

"Alright, feast your eyes on this!" Bulma swiftly yanked the white sheet off of her surprise.

Revealing her newest creation to be what appeared to be an arcade game.

"Uh... what is it?" Trunks was at a loss for words, how could a video game help to save their world from being destroyed by the androids?

And what could have been going through his mother's mind to have her create this?

"Can't you see? It's a new time machine! Well sort of, it is a time machine. But with these cards I made, the time travel will only work on people with at least a fourth Saiyan blood in their veins." Bulma explained, holding a reflective orange card stamped with the Capsule Cooperation logo and had the words 'Hero License' written on the top of the card in black text.

"But how am I supposed to use this?" Trunks walked over to the machine, picking up one of the Hero licenses and looked around it a little bit; still at a loss as to how this was going to help them.

"Well I made you another time machine first off- it's in here." Bulma started, picking up a capsule in her hand and held it out to Trunks; whose eyes widened when he looked at it.

"A-Are you serious? How were you able to find the supplies for another Time machine?!"

"A woman has to have her secrets son, besides, it would take too long for me to explain. Anyway, I built you that time machine, I have the coordinates set for Satan City about three hundred years in the future from now; first off, I want you to go there and if it looks like a peaceful time and all life isn't extinct, I want you to leave the time machine there. I'm pretty sure that the people there will take it. And after that, we play the waiting game and see if anyone has at least a fourth Saiyan blood in the future." Bulma finished explaining, sitting at her desk and began typing away on a computer in front of her.

"This is your idea? But what if no one comes? What if there is no future because of these androids?!" Trunks quickly asked, only earning a scolding glare from his mother.

"Well do you have any better ideas?"

That made him fall silent; he didn't have any other ideas at the moment.

Despite his attempts to come up with a solution, he's only fallen short up until now and let out a defeated sigh.

"Alright so I just use the time machine again, go into the future and leave these weird cards and the machine there?" He asked, picking up one of the playing cards that had himself on it, making him blush slightly.

He never expected to find his face on a game card.

"Yep! That's pretty much it, the sooner you go, the less we'll have to wait for help so get going." Bulma told him, pressing a button on the side of the machine and with a loud 'Poof!' the machine was gone along with the cards.

The supplies safely tucked away inside of a capsule which she promptly tossed to her son.

"I guess we don't have a lot of options right now. We'd be better off if I hadn't lost the time machine though."

Trunks had a melancholy tone in his voice now. He still felt guilty for losing the original time machine in the first place but was snapped out of his thoughts when Bulma had flicked her finger against Trunks' forehead, making him wince.

"Snap out of it Trunks! What happened, happened, you can't change that. But what you can do now is stop moping and do what I told you to do alright?" She said in a stern tone, only earning a nod from her son.

"Right, don't worry Mom, I won't mess up this time." He said, taking both capsules and started heading outside. It was still very early in the morning; the sun had barely risen but the androids scarcely attacked this early in the day so he knew that now was a safe time to go along with her mother's plan.

Once outside, Trunks threw on his signature Capsule Corp jacket over his shoulders, pressing down on the Time Machine's capsule and tossed it on the ground; resulting in a loud 'Poof!' and in a small cloud of smoke, revealed the new time machine.

It looked very similar to the old one, almost an exact copy of the original if Trunks didn't know any better but he figured now wasn't the time to admire his mother's craftsmanship and jumped into the cockpit of the machine.

Looking at the central monitor, he saw that the date he was set to land in was Age 1103, roughly around three hundred years in the future like Bulma had said.

The lavender-haired teen looked at the capsule in his hand. Holding within it, the machine his mother had made as well as the strange cards that went along with it.

He had to admit, he was skeptical about how well this was going to work; but seeing how horribly the androids had destroyed his time line, he knew that he had the obligation to everyone who had died by their hands to at least try.

He shoved the capsule into the front pocket of his jacket and switched the machine on. And in a matter of seconds, vanished from his home and within the next second, found himself in an entirely new place, at least from the looks of it.

Everywhere he looked, there were large trees. And looking down below, he saw a few forest animals scurrying about; he couldn't remember the last time he had seen a forest like this.

Switching the time machine off, Trunks hopped out of the cockpit of the machine. Easily landing on his feet and reverted the machine back into its capsule form and put it safely in his pocket.

Looking at his watch, Trunks could see that he was in a small forest that was located outside of Satan City. But the date was correct. It was Age 1103 like the machine was set for. And so far, he was seeing a great improvement from his own time line.

He wasn't sure if he should let anyone see him flying, so he took the time to walk out of the forest. Taking in the scenery that he never got the chance to see within his own time line. Green grass, the smell of blooming spring flowers, hearing the rustling and chattering of the forest animals that seemed to be thriving.

This was a nice change for him, a small smile spread over his face. But even if this time line was nice, he wasn't sure if there would be Saiyans in it or not, but that was something he was going to find out.

After about ten minutes, Trunks found himself looking at something he never thought he would see.

Satan City. Perfectly peaceful. No destroyed buildings. No wreckage.

The last time he had seen Satan City, it was in shambles. Completely obliterated by the androids and there were people everywhere!

All lining the streets, driving their cars, talking among themselves, it was like as if the androids never existed!

"This is incredible..." He spoke softly to himself, walking down a sidewalk and just looked around the city.

There were no signs of destruction or mayhem to be found at all! He couldn't believe this but his mother was right! Spot on this time!

After the initial shock of how peaceful this time line was wearing off, Trunks remembered the task at hand.

He had to deliver this time machine.

But where was he supposed to deliver it to?

Bulma wasn't specific on that part, and he had no way of contacting her either.

He took a quick look around, there were all sorts of buildings lining the sidewalk he was walking on.

A Karaoke bar, a karate dojo, Chinese restaurant, the list went on and on.

But there was one building that sparked his interest, it was a very large arcade.

It had the word 'Arcade' written in flashing neon lights, and the size itself was at least as big as a shopping mall!

He figured that this was as good a place as any to leave the time machine and with that, took a step into the arcade.

Taking a quick look around, he saw various kids and teenagers enjoying the games.

All of them completely carefree and happy. That alone was enough to do his heart some good.

All he wanted was a time of peace; it was almost too surreal that his request was granted so easily.

"Excuse me, may I help you find something?" He was snapped out of his thoughts when he spotted a young girl walking over to him.

Her black hair cut short, and her bangs were perfectly parted to the left with a pair of white hair pins keeping them in place.

He could see that this girl had a kind air around her, he could see it in her eyes and the way she smiled at him.

"Uh yeah, where do I go if I have a delivery to make?" He asked, he didn't want to seem too suspicious and he was already wearing the Capsule Corp logo so he was sure he could pull off that he was a worker for the company.

At least he hoped so...

"Oh you can just come to me; I see that you're a member of my family's company. You must be new though, my name is Kimiko Shuurei and the arcade here is owned by my family. If you have a delivery, then I can sign for it." The girl smiled back at him.

_"Wait a minute... Did she say her family's company?"_

That thought went through Trunks' mind, how could this belong to her family?

Well it was three hundred years from his time, he was sure times had changed quite a few things anyway.

"W-Well that's good, at least I found the right person." Trunks said, taking the capsule out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Kimiko just looked at the capsule for a few moments; seemingly inspecting it.

"Strange, this appears to be a fairly old capsule design. I've never seen one like this before. And I don't remember mother or father saying that we were expecting a delivery today."

_"Crap! She's starting to get suspicious! Come on Trunks think of something!"_

Trunks' mind began to race; he wasn't sure what to do if she found out the truth about why he was there!

He didn't want to risk screwing up the time line!

"Yo! Kimiko! Hurry up would'ya?! We're getting old over here and I need my Mocha latte or I get bitchy!"

Turning over his shoulder, Trunks spotted two other girls who had just walked in, the one who spoke had tanned skin and sharp-looking eyes.

Her hair was spiked and tied in a short high ponytail with a yellow tie.

"Come on Kasumi lighten up, God. Kimiko has a job unlike some people." The second girl was of a paler complexion, but she had large black eyes and long black hair tied into a neat ponytail with a red ribbon.

"You do not want to get on my bad side when I am getting pissed over here! Come on girl! Get the guy's number and dump his ass so we can go!"

The tanned girl, Kasumi called once again, making Kimiko blush a light shade and clear her throat.

"I-It's not like that! Well as for the delivery, may I see your ID?" Kimiko asked, making Trunks complexion pale.

He didn't have any form of ID and even if he did it would just show off that he didn't belong in this time line!

"U-Uh let's see... I know I had it with me somewhere, Oh crap! I must have left it in my car! I'll go get it!"

He quickly made up an excuse and began to run out of the store. But as he did, he noticed that the bow-wearing girl, Tsukimi.

Just looked at him with wide eyes and a visible blush staining her cheeks but he didn't have time to stick around and quickly made it out of there.

"Ah! Wait!" Kimiko tried to call after him before sighing.

"Oh darn, well he did say it was for the store, I better put it in the back." Kimiko mused to herself, walking to a silver door near the back of the store and opened it.

Inside the room were various arcade games lining the walls, some out of order, some awaiting to be used.

She pressed down on the capsule and tossed it at an empty space. Only to look at the cards that came with it.

"Some sort of card game?" She asked, picking up a Hero License and looked around it, only to be snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Kasumi call for her.

"Kimiko! Yo! Kimiko! We got a situation!" The short-haired girl quickly dropped the card and ran out of the store room.

Only to be shocked when she saw Kasumi, trying to fan Tsukimi; who was lying on the ground, her eyes swirling and her face completely red.

"Oh my goodness! What happened?!"

"Beats the hell out of me! She just passed out and I can't understand her!" Kasumi replied, still fanning the bow-wearing girl who was mumbling slightly.

"...'s him...Trunks..."

* * *

Trunks had made it back to the forest where the time machine had brought him.

He breathed out a relieved sigh when he saw that no one was following him. "Thank God, that was too close." He said, taking the time machine capsule out of his pocket and activated it.

Once the smoke cloud cleared, the time traveling teen jumped into the cockpit, adjusting the return time and date; making sure the time machine would send him back home.

As the machine began to hover off the ground, Trunks just looked back down at the peaceful time.

This was what his mother wanted to see all along, this was the sort of time he knew she wanted to live in.

All he could hope for, was that this plan of hers would work, and that the time machine would bring him some help. Not only for him, but for his future as well.

A sad smile spread over his face.

_"Mom, Gohan, I wish you two could see this. This is the kind of time I know you two were fighting for."_

And with that thought in his mind, Trunks vanished from the forest, heading back to his own time.

Only being left to sit and wait, and hope that someone would answer his time line's call for help like he so desperately wanted.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One.**

**A New Generation of Heroes Are Born! Enter The Dragon Ball Heroes!**

* * *

The sun was high in the sky over Satan City, it seemed that Trunks' interference with the time line hadn't changed the peaceful nature of this future. The year was still Age 1103 just as he left it, and the people who inhabited the city were going about with their normal lives.

The temperature had begun to rise recently, the sound of the cicadas chirping could be heard around the city; signaling the onset of summer once again.

In the center of Satan City, lies the city's most recent great accomplishment; Seven Star Academy. A large prep school that teaches students from grades one through twelve; and it was in a classroom, on one of the lower floors of the building, that a young boy was sitting at his desk, impatiently looking out the window every so often.

This young man's name is Yuuki Yuukanhito, and is a pretty normal thirteen year old boy. Like most thirteen year old boys, he was rather fun-loving and was anxious to hear the school bell ring; which would free him from the cage he called school and begin his summer vacation.

"Come on! Just a couple more minutes!" The black-haired boy looked impatiently at the black and white wall clock that hung above the large blackboard his teacher was writing on; he had long since stopped listening to the lecture, his mind was already in summer mode and was eager for his vacation to start.

The ticking of the clock was always taunting him, his heart was pounding slightly; just thinking of how much fun he was planning on having with his friends this summer. And there was one other thing that he really wanted to do during this summer...

And just as he was finding himself getting lost in his own thoughts, Yuuki quickly looked up from his desk, smiling brightly as the sweet sound of the school alarm hit his ear drums, causing him to quickly grab his backpack and nearly ran out of the classroom; wanting to be the first to start his summer off.

"Finally! I thought class was never gonna end!" He exclaimed happily as he headed towards his locker to empty it out before he was to start his vacation.

"Yo Yuuki!" The spiky-haired boy looked over his shoulder, grinning when he spotted one of his best friends Mamoru Tsukemo, walking over to him and leaned on one of the lockers next to him.

"So what're you planning to do to celebrate getting out of here?" A small chuckle escaped Yuuki's lips at his friend's question. Mamoru was always the type of person who hated to study and if it were up to him, he would be skateboarding all day long instead of being cooped up in some school.

"I don't know yet but I'm up for anything. I can already tell this summer's gonna be awesome!" That same wide grin found its way to Yuuki's face once more as he closed his locker after stuffing all of its contents into his -now overstuffed- backpack.

"I know the feeling! All of that studying just made my head hurt, and I hate this uniform!" Mamoru expressed with a sigh; it was mandatory for every student at Seven Star Academy to wear a uniform. For the boys it was pretty standard, black slacks, white dress shirt, and a red, black, and white striped blazer with the school's badge pinned on the front, the signature golden dragon mascot of the school.

"Why the hell can't we just wear our normal clothes? These clothes are just plain uncomfortable!" Mamoru sighed, his blazer was left open; he never enjoyed keeping his blazer closed.

"I know but think about it, for three months we won't have to wear these. So enjoy it while you can." Yuuki chuckled as he started walking down the hallway with his long-haired friend following after him.

"It's not just the clothes! The teachers keep bitching about my hair! It's my damned hair! I'm not cutting it! They're probably just jealous that they can't have awesome hair like this." The tanned bow spoke proudly with a smirk; his black hair was very long and spiked; resembling Raditz's hairstyle and reaching down to the small of his back.

"You have to admit Mamoru, it is kind of long don't you think? Don't you get hot with all that hair in the summer?" Yuuki asked with a slightly confused look.

"Not really, I guess it reflects most of the sun's rays away from me so nope, I don't get hot." Mamoru said proudly as he spotted one of the two's close friends coming out of the school library.

"Oh there you are Akihiko! What the heck are you doing in the library?" Yuuki asked, walking over to the boy as he closed the door to the library behind him.

"I wanted to make sure all of the books I borrowed from the school library were returned before the school closed." Akihiko Chino was what the girls would call, the smart one of the three. His blazer was neatly buttoned up, his white shirt perfectly tucked in, and it seemed that not even a single black hair on his head strayed out of place from just above his shoulders where it could reach.

"Oh God you are such a nerd dude! Live a little! There's more to life than books!" Mamoru offered with a grin, wrapping one of his arms around his friend's shoulders, only earning a small defeated sigh from the paler boy.

"Yes, yes, you tell me that every day but I cannot seem to learn." Akihiko had learned long ago that it was pointless to argue with Mamoru on school topics. Everything he would say would go in one ear and out the other.

"So Akihiko, have any plans?" Yuuki asked as the three boys began to make their way out of the school.

"Not really, I was simply going to review my research for the chemistry project we were assigned before the start of our vacation." Akihiko replied simply; he tended to speak in long, intricate sentences, which some of his friends would say is just a way of showing off his high intelligence.

"Dude, we need to find you a girlfriend and fast." Mamoru said with a sigh, shaking his head which rested in his palm.

"And if I am not interested in a relationship right now?" Akihiko retorted in a slightly annoyed tone in his voice as he stepped down from the steps.

"Come on Akihiko, there has to be someone you like. Maybe a girlfriend would help mellow you out?" Yuuki offered with a smile; only for Akihiko to breath out a sigh and glance away from their direction.

"I do not need a relationship right now. I just need to focus on my schoolwork if I want to get into into a good college." That reply just made both Yuuki and Mamoru sigh in exasperation once more; following after their friend.

"There's more to life than grades. You should know that by now Akihiko." Yuuki smiled, starting his walk down the sidewalk and looking towards the football field where he saw Kimiko, wearing her soccer team uniform and practicing her high kicks with the other members of the team.

"Never thought Kimiko would join the soccer team but she does have the leg strength for it." Mamoru noted; watching as the short-haired girl jumped up, flipping her body over and swiftly kicking the soccer ball that was heading her way into the net on the other side of the field, surprising the rest of the team.

"She has a talent for soccer; and it is good that she is getting some form of exercise; it will keep her healthy." Akihiko added, seemingly watching the girl's movements with a little more attention than he was showing earlier.

"I wonder where Tsukimi and Kasumi went off to? Are they still stuck in class? Maybe we should've waited for them." Yuuki thought aloud, looking at the school building and then back at the soccer field when he saw the bow-wearing girl and the tanned girl walking over to Kimiko once the rest of the soccer team was beginning to disperse; signaling that practice was over.

"Looks like we left at the right time. Figures they'd go after Kimiko." Mamoru chuckled, walking towards the school gate and easily began climbing it and jumped over it, landing on the ground easily and proceeded to unlock the gate for Yuuki and Akihiko to walk in.

"You know, it is still technically within school hours. You did not have to resort to breaking in." Akihiko spoke, walking past Mamoru who just snickered. "Yeah, but that kills the fun."

"Oh hey Yuuki! Akihiko! Mamoru!" A blush spread over Yuuki's face; seeing Tsukimi smile and wave at him, motioning him and the other two boys to come over with a happy-looking smile on her face.

That was the one thing Yuuki wanted to achieve during this summer; he wanted a summer romance. And the girl with the red bow in her hair was the object of his unrequited affections.

"Dude, when are you gonna man up and ask Tsukimi out?" Mamoru was the one to snap Yuuki out of his thoughts; only making the blush staining the boy's cheeks grow a shade darker. " Are you nuts?! I can't just ask her out like that! I've known Tsukimi since I was a kid, if I ask her out now, I'd just be making things awkward between us...And the last thing I want is to lose her." Yuuki breathed out a melancholy sigh, running his hand through his spiked hair.

"So you're just gonna let some other guy come in and ask her out? I know what I'm telling you, you have to at least tell her how you feel Yuuki. If you don't, you might just lose her." Mamoru added; Yuuki looking ahead at the three girls talking among themselves, and Tsukimi giggling a couple of times. That sweet sound that invaded his eardrums, he found that nothing could make his heart race more than seeing Tsukimi's smile.

"Don't worry about it, right now I'm just gonna pretend I don't like her. If I see that she actually does like me back, I'll ask her out. But only when I'm sure that she likes me back." Yuuki said with a newly-determined expression on his face.

Akihiko on the other hand, just looked onward at the three girls talking among each other, his jet black eyes trailing towards Kimiko for a moment; only for them to shift to a boy, wearing his school's uniform walking towards the girls.

His black hair tied back in a small ponytail with his bangs framing his face, a confident air wafted around this boy, and his light blue eyes were focused exclusively on Kimiko.

That boy was his cousin, Satoshi.

"Oh hello Satoshi, are you having a nice day so far?" Kimiko asked in her usual polite tone, giving the blue-eyes boy a smile and only earning a grin in return.

"Well my day got a lot better since I saw you. I have to say Kimiko, your high kicks are pretty incredible. The soccer team is lucky to have you." Satoshi easily worked his way onto the bench where the three girls were sitting, taking a spot next to Kimiko.

"Oh I wouldn't exactly say that. I do enjoy playing the game." Kimiko had a light blush tinting her cheeks as she spoke. And Satoshi's eyes seemed to trail over her every movement and mannerisms; almost as if he were taking a mental picture of her that he could always keep with him.

"You know I would love to see you put that kicking skill to good use Kimiko, but on a guy." Kasumi said with a smirk, only making the short-haired girl's blush even worse.

"I-I couldn't do something like that! It would be wrong and painful for the boy!" She objected, only making Kasumi chuckle a little harder as she glanced at Satoshi. "You sure you don't want to be her test dummy?"

"I think I'll pass for today but thanks for the offer. Your company's always the highlight of my day Kasumi." Satoshi spoke with a small smirk spread over his lips, and Kasumi could tell right away that the tone he was using was sarcastic but she decided that she was going to let it go- for now at least.

"Hey girls and Satoshi, what's up?" Mamoru, Yuuki, and Akihiko were walking over to the group; Akihiko giving a small warning glance to his cousin who only kept that same friendly smile on his face and kept eye contact with his younger cousin as he sat down.

"Nothing much, but it is nice to already be on vacation. Not that I'm gonna do a lot of relaxing though. The dojo gets more customers during the summer so I'm gonna be busy teaching classes." Tsukimi sighed, placing her chin in her hand.

Her late father had left her in charge of his martial arts dojo, it wasn't anything too fancy but it was enough to help her mother pay the bills and she did enjoy martial arts.

"Well do you want me to go over and help you out Tsukimi? You've been trying to train me since you met me. Even though you still kick my butt." Yuuki chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head; the ghost of a blush was still barely visible on his cheeks but was hoping that Tsukimi didn't notice.

"Well all I know is that summer means more chances to fill up the pages in my book. I'm planning to at least write three chapters worth this summer." Kasumi said, a proud tone in her voice and dug into her black backpack and pulled out what appeared to be a leather-bound black book that could easily be the size of an encyclopedia.

The others often wondered how she is able to obtain such large books but as they have learned over their years of being friends with Kasumi; some questions are better left unasked.

But all they did know is that inside that black book was nothing but a plethora of pranks that she often used to make the lives of the rest of the student body miserable, or anyone who dared to get on her bad side.

"Yeah that sounds great. I'm just gonna kick back and chill the whole summer, I earned this relaxation time!" Mamoru declared, only earning a scoff from Kasumi. "Do nothing but rest and you'll be a fatass when you come back to school in the fall. You'll just end up breaking your skateboard when you try to ride it."

"Hey! I am not fat! You wish you could have a body like mine!"

"Yeah, a body with more hair than a carpet on it, ever girl's dream." Kasumi rolled her eyes before looking at Akihiko and Satoshi who seemed to be locked in eye contact, perhaps trying to mentally will the other into backing down.

"So Satoshi. I trust that everything at your manor is going well. I can tell that your grades have begun improving since the school year began." Akihiko was the first to start the conversation and break the tension between them.

"Glad you noticed. Even though we can't all be geniuses like you are Aki, but we can only try. Hotaru's really been helping me out with my homework, I didn't think she was that smart but that girl never ceases to surprise me." The blue-eyed boy said with a fond chuckle.

"Speaking of Hotaru, where is she?" Tsukimi asked, taking a quick glance around the football field to see if the girl was around and surely enough; a slightly paler girl was walking over to them, her chestnut brown hair was cut as short as Kimiko's and her bangs parted to the right instead of the left. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to be glaring slightly at Satoshi who took the signal and got up from his seat.

"Speak of the devil. Gotta go, be sure to call me later Kimiko, I know you got my number." Satoshi grinned at Kimiko before taking his leave, following Hotaru out of the school's football field.

"He really is nice, but I wonder why he would want me to call him?" Kimiko mused to herself, only earning a sigh from Kasumi. "Kimiko, he was asking you out! He totally likes you! How can you not see that?!"

"Oh I'm sure it isn't anything romantic like that. Besides I'm not really looking for a relationship right now." Kimiko finished with a hint of a blush on her cheeks, taking a small glance at Akihiko who seemed to be watching Satoshi and Hotaru leave.

* * *

"Come on Hotaru, how long are you gonna ice me out?" Satoshi urged, following his brunette friend down the sidewalk and away from the school; the brunette just kept silent for a moment until she stopped walking at a crosswalk, waiting for the signal to say it was safe to proceed.

"I don't know what your problem is Hotaru, you get pissy around Kimiko and I just don't get it. You two have a fight or something?" Satoshi asked, putting his hands behind his head and walking onward when the light switched to green.

"No, it was nothing like that... Don't worry about it." Hotaru finally spoke, keeping her eyes locked on the path she was taking ahead of her. Trying to avoid eye contact with Satoshi for the moment.

"Well whatever, looks like we got some time off from school. So anything you want to do tonight? Maybe something special?" Satoshi asked with his same cheerful grin spread over his face as his eyes trailed over to the girl walking next to him.

"I can't really think of anything special that we could do. Maybe a nice dinner?" Hotaru suggested, thinking aloud for the most part.

"Nah, that sounds kind of boring, I mean we're teenagers! we're supposed to go out and have the time of our lives!" Satoshi exclaimed, throwing his hands up for effect before sighing. "Now if only we could figure out what to do."

"...Maybe if I were more of a social butterfly instead of a wallflower, we would get invited to more parties and such." Hotaru mumbled to herself, glancing down at her feet, only to blush slightly when she felt her raven-haired friend wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey don't worry about that Hotaru, it's no big deal. Besides I've been to some of those parties, talk about bores." Satoshi chuckled, flashing Hotaru that same bright smile, the smile that unknowingly, brought a tint of a blush upon the brunette's pale cheeks, only causing her to glance away slightly, trying hide it even a little bit.

"Hey, there's an idea." Satoshi stopped, looking at the large arcade the two were approaching and looked to Hotaru with a slight smirk as he pulled a Hero license out of his pocket. "Wanna try out that new game? We did buy the starter pack."

"I have been a little curious about the game. Everyone's been talking about it in school." Hotaru said, looking at the arcade as she started walking in, reaching into her black bag and pulled out her own hero lisence.

* * *

"So much for spending time together to kick off summer. Mamoru has to babysit his little sister, Akihiko's hell-bent on finishing his Chemistry project, Tsukimi went to work, Kasumi's going to make people's lives miserable and Kimiko's no better than Akihiko. Just my luck." Yuuki breathed out a sigh, walking down the sidewalk that was leading to his house.

He did partly expect this though, he knew all of his friends had other plans but he did hope that they could at least spend time together even a little bit due to summer starting.

"Hey! I'm home!" The spiky-haired boy called, opening the door to his house and slipped off his shoes at the front entrance.

"Hey, didn't expect to see you home so early, no plans?" Yuuki's sixteen-year old brother Isamu, walked over to Yuuki, wearing a set of large headphones over his ears and was already changed out of his school uniform from the looks of it.

"Not really, all my friends were busy so it looks like I'm starting summer off with an all-night gaming session." Yuuki sighed, taking off his blazer and started walking up the stairs towards his room.

"Well Mom's gonna be home late, she's pulling a double shift at the diner so looks like we're on our own for dinner tonight, pizza cool?" Isamu asked, walking to the couch and sat down as he shoved his mp3 player into the pocket of his skinny jeans.

"Yeah that's fine with me, just don't try putting hot sauce on my half again!" Yuuki called, walking into his room and set his bag on the floor next to his bed.

"This sucks~! I wanted to do something fun with everyone! Oh well, maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow." The boy sighed, lying back in his bed, only turning slightly and smiled softly at the picture that was on his nightstand.

It was taken back when he was six years old, shortly after he met Tsukimi when she and her family moved to Satan City. The two were smiling happily at the camera, Tsukimi having her arm around Yuuki's shoulders and grinning happily at the camera.

"Tsukimi... Damn it, why does she have to be so cute?" Yuuki muttered to himself, picking up one of his pillows and hugged it in his arms. There were times he wished that he didn't feel this way towards Tsukimi, the last thing he wanted was to lose the closest friend he has because of the way his heart would pound whenever he thought of her.

He knew he needed to do something about his feelings, but he didn't have any ideas on what would work without them making things awkward between himself and Tsukimi.

* * *

"I know I saw him! I knew he wasn't just some delivery guy!" Tsukimi ran into her room, tossing her backpack onto her bed and quickly reached under the fluffy brown teddy bear that sat on the corner of her bed, and from it, pulled out what looked to be a game card.

The card featured future Trunks, holding his sword in an attacking position, and his lavender hair was now longer, reaching past his shoulders.

"That man was Trunks! The actual Trunks! I can't believe I actually saw him in real life! He is even cuter than he is on the card! I wish I could meet him again!... or that I didn't pass out after I saw him." Tsukimi said, holding the card in her hand with a bright smile and a blush staining her cheeks.

"He is so incredibly hot! If I could just meet him again my life would be complete!" She said happily, holding the card to her chest before bringing up to her eyes once more. "I know that it was you I saw, but how could that even be possible? you're not real... are you Trunks?"

* * *

"Ugh... the hell happened?" Satoshi slowly opened his blue eyes; looking around at his new surroundings, he found himself in a forest of some sort, and directly to the west of them was a large mountain structure, he could tell that they were close to North City; that was the only city with large mountains bordering it from his knowledge.

"How the hell did we get out here?" He wondered to himself, only for his eyes to widen slightly when he remembered that Hotaru was with him before he fell unconscious and quickly started looking around the area. "Hotaru?! Hey Hotaru!" He called, spotting the brunette lying on the ground near a large tree and quickly rushed over to her.

"Hotaru! Come on wake up? You alright?" He asked, a concerned tone in his voice as he gently picked up the girl in his arms, only to sigh in relief as she slowly opened her icy blue eyes.

"..Satoshi?... what happened?" She asked, holding her head slightly before looking around at the large trees that were surrounding them. "Weren't we at the arcade?"

"Yeah I thought we were. I don't know what happened; we just started playing that video game and all of a sudden we just passed out and woke up here." Satoshi said, looking around a bit at the area around them as she got up.

"But how could we get here? I mean, we're just outside of North City aren't we?" Hotaru asked, still looking around at the area with a confused expression.

"I think we are, but we better find a way to get home before it gets too late." Satoshi said as he got up and started walking towards one of the mountains. "I hope I can get a signal around here, maybe if I call Kain he can come pick us up." The blue-eyed boy reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, dialing his home number.

"We're sorry, but the number you have entered is invalid; please check the number and try again."

"What the hell? What's going on?" Satoshi looked at his cell phone with a confused expression. "I know I dialed the number right, how the hell can it be invalid?" He asked himself, dialing the number once more, but was met with the same automatic message.

"What's wrong Satoshi?" Hotaru walked over, already with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"I can't get through, it's like my house number doesn't exist or something. But this is bad, we can't get out of here without a car or something." He said, looking around the area and spotted a cave in one of the montain ledges.

"Looks like we're camping out tonight until we can find a way to get home." He sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket and started climbing up one of the ledges.

"But a cave? Are you sure about this Satoshi?" Hotaru asked, watching as the raven-haired boy began scaling the mountain.

"Think about it this way; we can't stay out in the forests; there's probably bears and other wild animals running around. I'd rather be safe than comfortable." Satoshi replied simply as he continued to climb up the mountain ledges.

Hotaru just breathed out a defeated sigh; Satoshi had a point. And she didn't want to be eaten by some wild animal either so she began climbing up the same path as Satoshi until Satoshi landed on a mountain ledge, looking ahead with slight surprise when he saw a set of large steel doors at the end of the cavern he walked into.

"Hey Hotaru. Check this out." Was all he spoke, his eyes still fixated on the large steel doors that were at the end of the cave.

"Woah... These doors are huge. I wonder what's on the other side?" Hotaru climbed onto the ledge; her eyes widening slightly when she started walking towards the giant steel doors and looked curiously at the panel on the doors with a set of numbered buttons on it.

"Looks like whatever's in here is password-protected." Satoshi walked towards the panel and started pressing in a random number combination he just thought of. To his surprise, the panel flashed a couple of times before flashing green and the steel doors began to open slowly.

"How did you know the password?" Hotaru asked in surprise; only for Satoshi to chuckle nervously and rub the back of his head. "Honestly I just punched in a bunch of random numbers."

Once the doors were open, the two were shocked to see what looked like a large laboratory inside of the cave. All around them they could hear the sounds of computers beeping, and three large capsules labeled with the numbers sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen were at the end of the room.

"No way... This place is incredible, look at all this equipment, it's like something out of a sci-fi novel." Satoshi said, looking around the lab as Hotaru walked over to one of the large silver capsules. As she looked inside the red window, her eyes widened when she saw who appeared to be a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair lying inside of it.

"Satoshi... I think this is Dr. Gero's lab." She spoke with shock evident in her voice. "No way, Dr. Gero's supposed to be some made up character! There's no way that this can be his actual lab." Satoshi said, still looking around the room before spotting a smaller capsule that lie forgotten in the corner of the lab.

"But I just saw Android 18! This is Gero's lab Satoshi! We should leave!" Hotaru exclaimed before seeing that Satoshi was looking at the smaller capsule in the corner of the room with intregue.

"Okay, looks like you're right. But I never remembered seeing someone like this. Do you Hotaru?" He asked, looking inside of the smaller capsule; seeing what appeared to be a Cell Jr.- looking creature but with a purple color scheme and had the same mouth piece as Imperfect Cell. The name stamped on top of the capsule read 'Gerome'.

"No, he kind of looks like a miniature version of Cell. But I don't know if we should be in here. If Gero's lab is still here, that must mean he isn't that far away." Hotaru had a slightly concerned tone in her voice and just blinked when she saw Satoshi push the large red button next to the capsule, activating the Android inside and the capsule slowly began to open.

"Are you insane! What if it'll kill us?!" The brunette yelled as Satoshi stood back up and watched the capsule open. "Don't worry, I don't think he will. I just have this gut feeling that we'll be friends."

"You better be right about this Satoshi, if we die I am going to be giving you such a hard time in heaven." Hotaru grumbled; watching as the capsule opened up; the android inside- Gerome- began opening his red eyes.

But it was evident that this android had been through a lot; he was visibly injured, his right arm was bleeding purple blood, one of his eyes was completely swollen and nearly shut due to the extent of the swelling; he had scratches and bruises all over his body as well.

"Hey buddy, you don't look so good. You okay?" Satoshi asked; being completely casual towards the android as Gerome stood up from his capsule and took one glance around the room before looking back at the two who had awakened him.

"...Leave..." His voice was slightly raspy; as if he had done a lot of screaming before speaking, leaving his voice very hoarse sounding.

"What're you talking about? Why should we leave?" Hotaru asked, only for her eyes to widen when she heard another voice echo in the room.

"... Dr. Gero, he will kill you both..." The android spoke weakly in reply, only sitting down in front of the two to try and conserve his strength.

"Don't worry, we were gonna leave. But we're taking you with us." Satoshi decided, only to have Hotaru look at him with a confused expression. "But why should we take him with us Satoshi?"

"Because he's hurt, just look at him Hotaru the guy can barely stand! Besides I think he'd like living with us, we wouldn't beat the crap out of him like I'm sure that old fart did." Satoshi said before looking back at Gerome. "So what do you say Gerome? Wanna come with us?"

"... Why are you two offering me shelter?..." The purple android looked up at the two with a slightly confused expression. All he knew was being beaten by Nineteen to prove his strength and being deemed a failure by the man who had created him.

"Because we want you to be our friend." Satoshi smiled back at him; not even he could explain it, but he felt as though he had a connection with Gerome, and knew that the purple android could use some friends.

"If Satoshi is sure about this, then I can't really complain. He is a good judge of character." Hotaru added, only letting out a defeated sigh. She had her qualms about letting Gerome stay with them, but not even should could refuse someone who was this badly beaten up.

"... friend." The word rolled off Gerome's tongue; that was a word he had never heard before. No one wanted to be his friend; he was just another experiment gone wrong, but for some reason in the eyes of these two; he could feel that he was not a failure... But an actual living being for the first time since he was created.

Slowly, he rose from his sitting position; only offering an agreeing nod to the two before quickly looking to the doorway when he heard footsteps approaching and got into a defensive stance.

"Well, looks like we have a couple of intruders. And they've awakened that failure of mine. I should have destroyed that useless heap when I had the chance. Nineteen; go deal with the intruders. Make sure they do not reveal anything they saw." Dr. Gero himself was standing in the open doorway of the lab; his large pale sidekick Android 19, was standing next to him and began walking towards the two kids; who had grown a shade paler from the shock and were slowly backing away with wide eyes as they looked at the android getting closer to them.

"W-Wait a minute! We won't tell anyone about this place! We'll just leave!" Satoshi said quickly, backing up towards the capsules along with Hotaru; and as he did that, Gero smirked slightly, seeing the resemblance the two had to Seventeen and Eighteen.

At that moment, as Nineteen extended his hand to the two; Gerome rushed in, swiftly kicking Nineteen a couple of inches away from the two and standing in front of them in a battle-ready stance.

"Even now you still dare to defy me Gerome? Nineteen, take care of that reject; I think I may have found my newest android models." Gero said with a smirk as both Satoshi and Hotaru's eyes widened, they quickly took the chance that Gerome had given them and tried to run away from the androids, bolting past Android Nineteen but they both blinked when they found themselves being grabbed by their shirt collars by Dr. Gero.

A low growl escape Gerome's throat; he rushed towards the larger android, delivering a flurry of punches only for one of his punches to be caught by Nineteen, and with little effort, the pale Android smirked and kicked Gerome harshly in the stomach; making him cough up a small amount of blood and fall onto the floor.

The purple android glared sharply back at Gero, trying to pick himself up but his injuries were too great, the wind had been knocked out of him completely and found it hard to even breath.

"... Satoshi... Hotaru... "

"Ah yes, you two will make fine androids. Count yourself grateful, I rarely use human subjects for androids anymore." Gero smirked as the two kids tried to get out of the man's grip.

"Let us go! We don't want to be androids!" Satoshi yelled, trying to punch the old man but found that his punches hardly did anything to him.

The old man's eyes flashed for a second; the smirk on his face only growing wider. "I really am lucky today aren't I? I never expected these two to have such blood coursing through their veins."

"Let us go!" Hotaru screamed, thrashing wildly against the old man's grip and managing to escape when the back of her white dress shirt ripped; freeing herself from his grip.

"Satoshi!" She yelled; stopping for a moment only for the blue-eyed boy to yell back at her. "Forget about me! Get out of here now!"

Hesitating for a moment; Hotaru bit her lip and chose to listen to her friend and began her bolt out of the lab; only to be stopped when she bumped into Android Nineteen and roughly picked up by her neck by the pale android.

"Hotaru!" Satoshi screamed in horror; actually going as far as to rip his own shirt to free himself from Gero's grip and rushed over to the two. "LET GO OF HER YOU BASTARD!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to punch the android as hard as he could but only found the android to frown at him; grabbing him by his own neck and hold him up.

"Shall I dispose of them?" The pale android asked in his usual monotonic voice; the two kids struggling as hard as they could to get free from his grip.

"No; I believe they will prove useful to me." Gero replied simply; only for his silver eyes to trail back to Gerome; who was trying to pick himself up, his forehead bleeding slightly and holding is clearly broken arm.

"...Release... Them..." He spoke weakly, his red eyes glaring back at the mad scientist in front of him.

"You have outlived your usefulness to me Gerome. You are nothing but an utter failure I should have destroyed long ago." Gero growled; walking over to the purple android and grabbed him by his neck, holding him up and walking towards the open doorway and out to the ledge of the mountain.

"You are dismissed Gerome." The doctor said simply, dropping the purple android off of the high ledge.

"GEROME!" Both Satoshi and Hotaru screamed after the android; watching as Gero closed the steel doors and smirked at the captive kids. "Time to get to work."

As the steel doors closed; Gerome was shown to be lying on the grass, bleeding heavily from his right arm and not having the strength to pick himself up off the ground.

Regret was shown on his face; the last thing he wanted was to leave those two at the mercy of Dr. Gero. But knew that he didn't have the strength to fight against Nineteen.

His eyes slowly began to close, his vision getting blurry as he let unconsciousness wash over him, enveloping him in nothing but silent darkness.

"... Satoshi... Hotaru..."

The last thing he saw before closing his eyes were the kind smiles the two had offered him; the kindness that they had given him.

* * *

**Author's Note: Oh wow, this is easily one of the longest chapters that I've written in a while! I think I could've done better with the last scene though but I'm happy with how this chapter turned out!**

**I wanted to add some drama here with the android characters, I just love their designs and I have so much planned for these three even though they aren't going to be the main characters- well they are main characters but the main protagonist is going to be Yuuki. **

**At least that's what I have planned anyway. **

**So enjoy the chapter and feel free to leave a review! I want to know if I'm doing a good job with this story! ^^**


	3. Chapter 2

**Akihiko's Concern! Satoshi and Hotaru are missing?!**

* * *

Akihiko was lying on his bed, staring at the cell phone in his hand, just waiting for a certain phone call or even a simple text message from his cousin. It was a sort of ritual the two boys had, every night they would call or text each other, just converse with each other and take the time to chat.

Looking at the clock on his wall, a small sigh left Akihiko's lips, it was already two hours past the time Satoshi would normally call or text him. "Perhaps his cell phone is dead." He concluded to himself, taking it upon himself to call his cousin and waited for the dial tone.

If Satoshi's phone was dead, his call would just send him straight to voice mail. But to his surprise, Akihiko heard an automatic message come on his phone.

_"We're sorry; but the number you have dialed is out of your calling range."_

That was enough to make Akihiko look at his phone's screen in disbelief. How could his call be out of his calling range? Satoshi just lived two blocks down the street from his own house!

"Out of my calling range?" Akihiko repeated to himself, getting up from his bed and shoving his phone into his pocket and looked at the forgotten homework that lay on his desk next to his bookcase.

Since the two hours had passed, Akihiko found himself unable to concentrate on studying at all, every time he would sit down to write, he would just find himself looking at his phone and checking every few minutes or so and see if he had accidentally set it to vibrate.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked back at the black clock that hung on his wall, just ticking away, the minutes going by.

"Perhaps Hotaru can explain this." Akihiko breathed out a sigh, dialing Hotaru's number into his phone and calling the girl. Only for a small growl to escape his throat when he met with the same automatic message once again.

_"We're sorry; but the number you have dialed is out of your calling range."_

That was enough to make Akihiko begin to worry slightly, there was only one option left that he hadn't tried yet; going over to Satoshi's house to see what was going on.

And with his mind made up, the raven-haired boy shoved his phone into his pocket and quickly walked out of his bedroom and began his descent down the large staircase of his home.

_"There has to be a logical explanation for this. Satoshi would not just ignore my calls, and how could both he and Hotaru's numbers be considered 'out of my calling range'? That simply does not make sense."_

While he was thinking to himself, Akihiko walked towards the front door, passing by one of the maids his family hired. "Saffron, I am going to Satoshi's manor, please tell Mother and Father I may be late for dinner." Was all the boy spoke before walking out the door.

The woman just looked after him, her fiery red hair tied into a high ponytail, and her right eye covered by an eye patch. "Very well Young Master." Was all she said as she watched Akihiko go off and down the sidewalk.

Akihiko's family owned half of Capsule Corporation; the other half belonging to Kimiko's family. His family's success often led to rumors being spread around Seven Star Academy that his family simply payed the school off in order for him to get in. But his test scores did the speaking for him.

And as such, he lived in the gated community of the city along with the other families that were more stable financially, including Satoshi.

But at the moment, his mind was beginning to race; all he wanted to know was if his cousin was safe and sound. There were times when similar events would transpire, that Satoshi would end up going missing for a few days for various reasons, getting on the wrong bus, deciding to go camping out of nowhere, even something like getting lost at the mall has happened to Satoshi before; the latter of which still confused Akihiko to this day but this time it felt different...

He could tell that something was wrong.

Once he arrived at Satoshi's own manor, he slowly walked up the steps leading to the front door; in the back of his mind, he was praying that his cousin would come out of his manor, greet him with a grin and then playfully tease him about still being single.

But as he got closer to the door, it remained shut, he didn't even hear any other footsteps other than his own approaching the door.

_"Please be here Satoshi... Quash my inhibitions." _Akihiko prayed in the back of his mind; finally making it to the doorstep and rung the doorbell.

The seconds that passed seemed almost like an eternity; the uncertainty that was but a faint feeling inside the depths of his chest had become more pulsating against his heart.

"Yes? May I help you?" The head butler of Satoshi's estate was the one to answer the door, much to Akihiko's chagrin but he tried to keep his calm composure.

"Yes, do you know where your young master is, Helia?" He called the large man by his name; the man simply ran his hand through his slicked back black hair and looked back at Akihiko with the ghost of concern haunting his features.

"No. The young Master and mistress have not returned home yet today." Those words made Akihiko's eyes widen slightly but managed to keep his calm demeanor, he did not want to out himself as being too worried about his cousin.

"I see... Do you have any idea where he might be?"

"No, but this matter does concern me. It is unlike the young master to be this late in returning home."

"I see... Well I will hope he returns soon. Thank you for your time." Akihiko finished, simply turning away and walking away from the manor. That uneasy feeling was now beginning to show on his face. He knew something was wrong, he just didn't know what that was yet.

He quickly took his cell phone out of his pocket and began texting; all while going down the sidewalk back to his house.

_"There is something else going on, I just have that feeling in the pit of my stomach; I cannot deal with this along though." _Akihiko had finished typing his text message before sending it to his friends.

_"Satoshi and Hotaru have gone missing. I fear something serious may have happened to them. I purpose a search party throughout the city. But we have to hurry. I fear the worst."_

Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Akihiko breathed out a small sigh as he looked at the sky. _"Satoshi, why am I so concerned about your well-being this time?" _

Even he had to admit this was unlike him. But the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach was the driving force for most of his actions; he wasn't sure where Satoshi was, and in truth- he often thought of Satoshi as more of a brother than a cousin.

The two were very close, they always had been ever since they were children; Akihiko being the more introverted person while Satoshi was always outgoing.

He wouldn't know what to do if he ever lost Satoshi like this... That unease he felt was getting no better and knew that something had happened.

* * *

"It's only been a few days Trunks, don't be so impatient." Bulma was typing away on her computer, watching to see if any of the people who had the Hero Licenses had traveled in time.

It had only been a few days in their time; but Bulma still had faith that her plan had to work. This was the only option that they had left for their time line.

Trunks was impatiently sitting at the kitchen table; glaring down at the cup of coffee in his hands. The waiting had been maddening for him! He wanted to know if this was going to work or not! He wanted to know that he could save another time line from the hell the androids had created for himself and his mother.

"I know but I feel like I shouldn't just sit here and do nothing!" Trunks sighed frustratingly, he knew that this kind of a plan was a big stretch, but just knowing that there was the chance that another time line could be saved brought him some comfort.

But the waiting was beginning to wear on his nerves slightly.

"Hm? Hey Trunks, come take a look at this." Trunks got up from his seat, watching as two small green lights appeared on the computer screen.

"What am I looking at?" He asked, only for Bulma to continue typing away on her computer before turning to face him.

"According to this, the hero licensees have been used. Two of them to be exact, and that they are somewhere in the past, around the time before the androids are supposed to arrive maybe a year before." Bulma concluded as she looked at the two green flashing dots on her computer screen. "And according to this, they're in the mountains near North City."

"Well that's weird, why are they in North City? I thought the cards were supposed to send them here?" Trunks looked at the screen with a confused expression.

"Well that's the thing, the cards were supposed to send anyone with at least a 4th saiyan blood into the past before the androids are set to appear. But I can't control the location, that just happens at random."

"Maybe I should go there and check on them." Trunks said as he began walking out, only to be stopped by his mother grabbing his wrist. "You can't! I barely have enough fuel in the time machine for one more trip to the past, you can't waste it Trunks. Besides, look right here." Bulma turned back to her desk and clicked on the dots on the screen, making two small information cards appear on the screen.

"According to this, their life force is perfectly fine. They're in no danger and besides, the androids aren't in that time line yet so I'm sure they're alright." Bulma smiled slightly as she then looked at the information that appeared on the screen.

"They look a little young though, the boy is fourteen and the girl is thirteen." Trunks said, looking at the information on both Satoshi and Hotaru that had appeared on the screen until Bulma clicked on the info cards, showing the pictures of the two, only making Trunks' eyes widen slightly as well as Bulma's.

"The boy... He looks almost exactly like Android 17!" Trunks said in shock, he honestly didn't know if that was a good sign or not! According to the screen, the boy did have at least a 4th saiyan blood in his veins but he had no idea what that could mean.

"I know... But I'm sure he has to be good, I mean even if he does look like Android 17, that can't mean anything. That might just be a coincidence." Bulma closed the window, she figured that it would be better not to look a gift horse in the mouth, if they had the chance to receive help from the past then she was going to take it!

"Yeah, you might be right Mom. But just two kids aren't going to be enough, maybe we should wait for a few more just to be sure." Trunks wanted to play it safe this time, he didn't want to risk going into the past just for his plan to blow up in his face like it has before.

"You're right, besides the cards can take them back to their time whenever they want so I'm sure those two are perfectly fine." Bulma concluded, turning her computer off, she had a good feeling about this plan, she just had that feeling that things would work out for the better.

* * *

Gerome still lie on the ground, a pool of his own purple blood that had accumulated under him.

His red eyes slowly began to open, his left one was still swollen from the punch he had received from Android 19 and could barely open.

All he could feel was excruciating pain coursing through his body, he could barely find the strength to pick himself up; that is, until he remembered how he got so injured in the first place. Trying to protect Satoshi and Hotaru from suffering a fate worse than death.

"I can't... Leave them..." Despite the intense pain that stabbed into his body with every move he made, Gerome began forcing himself up off the ground; everything hurt, it hurt for him to breath, it hurt for him to even more or blink his eyes, but he didn't care.

The only thing he was interested in was making sure those two were safe, the new friends he had just made, the two who had actually treated him as a living being, who saw him as more than just an android, than an artificial being, more than just a failed experiment.

"_So what do you say Gerome, wanna come with us?"_

Satoshi's voice continued to ring within his mind, he could never forget the kindness the two had showed to him in that brief moment, but that was more than he had ever encountered during his whole life.

The bio-android only made it a couple of steps before wincing at a sharp pain that stabbed through his broken leg, causing him to fall to his knees and back onto the grassy forest floor once more.

"Why?... I am an android... Not meant to feel pain... So why...?" Gerome looked at his bloody hand, he couldn't understand it; he was a bio-android, he wasn't supposed to feel pain, he was supposed to be a killing machine, made for nothing but destruction and the murder of son Goku.

His whole life has been nothing but a countless cycle of pain. Since Gero had deemed him a failure for lacking the killing instinct his earlier androids possessed, he was mainly used as a training dummy for 19 or himself.

And that was the only contact he expected from others, all he could be used for was for receiving pain and inflicting it, thus making his existence in his mind- a cursed one.

"...I'm sorry..." Was all he spoke, he could feel his energy getting lower, that same darkness that enveloped over him earlier was threatening to overshadow him once more.

Turning on his back, the android weakly looked up at the side of the mountain, at the large steel doors where Satoshi and Hotaru remained trapped within.

He didn't want the two to have to endure the kind of hellish life he was forced to go through, but he was too injured to help them. He could barely even move or keep a hold on his consciousness.

"... I'm sorry..." Were the last words he spoke, letting his red eyes slowly close once more, allowing that darkness to surround him once more, for that seemed to be the path his life was forced to go in, one filled with emptiness and pain at every turn.

* * *

"Did you find them yet?" Yuuki had run to the front of the large shopping mall where he and his friends were supposed to meet after receiving the text message from Akihiko, asking for their help in searching for Satoshi and Hotaru.

"No luck dude, they aren't in the park." Mamoru sighed, riding over on his black skateboard.

"No luck on my end either." Kasumi said, crossing her arms in a slightly frustrated manner, concern clearly spread over her features.

"I didn't have any luck either, it's like they vanished or something." Tsukimi said only taking a look at the large display clock on the street corner. "And it's getting late too, this is serious, they've never been out this late before."

"I really hope they are safe." Kimiko spoke in a worried tone, only to look at Akihiko and her eyes softening, she could clearly see the concern that Akihiko had for his cousin. Even if he didn't express it verbally, his body language was a dead give away.

Yuuki only took a concerned glance around at his friends, he could feel how worried they all were. Shoving his hand into his pocket, he remembered the hero license that he had in his pocket and that was when an idea suddenly struck him.

"Hey, why don't we go into the arcade and play some games for a bit?" He suggested.

"Are you serious? Two of our friends are lost and the only thing you wanna do is play a video game?" Kasumi asked in a slightly offended tone of voice.

"Well think about it, we're all tired and our minds are running all over the place at once. We need to calm down so we can think clearly, that's why I suggested the game." Yuuki explained, only to be surprised when he saw Akihiko as the first to walk into the mall with Kimiko following suit. "Ah! Akihiko wait!"

"What are you doing? We should be searching for Satoshi and Hotaru." Kimiko caught up with Akihiko as he walked into the arcade, only taking a small glance over his shoulder to see that the rest of his friends had decided to follow him just like Kimiko did.

"I know that, but Yuuki is right. If we are to have any luck in finding them, we need to relax our minds and calm ourselves down so we may think more clearly." Akihiko was more worried than the others, Satoshi was like an older brother to him, and he honestly didn't know what to do if anything were to ever happen to him like this.

"So you're actually taking advice from Yuuki?" Mamoru asked, only earning an offended pout from Yuuki. "Hey! I give better advice than you do!"

"Yes he does at some intervals. Right now, I need to relax, so if you all would be so kind as to join me for a game." Akihiko reached into his pocket and pulled out his own hero license with the rest of the kids following suit and headed for the row of six machines that were neatly lined up next to the change machine and the air hockey table.

"If you're sure about this." Kimiko held her own card in her hand and once the kids had slipped their cards into the game system, they blinked when they saw the screen begin to flash white for a moment before seemingly turning off.

"Huh? Are they broken?" Tsukimi asked, looking around her machine as Kasumi hit hers on the side with her hand. "Yo! I came her to play so start up already you stupid thing!" She hissed, only to blink again when a bright light became to come from the screen of the arcade game, causing all the kids to suddenly shield their eyes from the bright light.

"W-what's going on?!" Yuuki was the first to ask, only to suddenly feel a sense of vertigo hit him, as if the entire world around him began to move in all different directions, but with the light blaring into his face, he couldn't see the extent of what was going on.

It wasn't until he felt the floor below his feet suddenly vanish and was replaced by the brief sensation of floating just as he suddenly felt his feet land on a solid floor once more and the light began to die down.

"Trunks! Come take a look at this! Hurry!" He heard a woman's voice call out, cautiously, he unshielded his eyes from his arm and took a look around at where he and the rest of his friends had ended up.

They appeared to be in a laboratory of some sort, it wasn't extravagant and the ceiling and floor both showed signs of wear, it wasn't until Yuuki's eyes set on a woman with long blue hair tied into a low ponytail that his eyes widened, recognizing the woman as Bulma Briefs!

"W-what's going on? Where are we?" Tsukimi and the rest of the kids were looking around as well, only for Tsukimi's eyes to widen when Trunks had rushed into the room, clad in a black tank top. "What is it mother-" He suddenly stopped when he saw the six kids that were standing in the room, the two partied locked in a shocked stare down.

Tsukimi only blinked a couple of times and wiped her eyes on her sleeve once, wanting to make sure that she was honestly seeing whom she was praying to god that she was seeing.

"_I-It's him!... It's really him!" _ Her mind began to race as quickly as her heart, her cheeks being tinted with a notable blush, her eyes unable to part with the lavender-haired teenager in front of her.

"It looks like we got company." Bulma was the first to break the silence only for it to be interrupted once more by a 'thump!' and looking to the left, Yuuki gasped when he saw Tsukimi pass out onto the floor with her face completely red.

"Ah! Tsukimi! Get a hold of yourself! Tsukimi!" He quickly went over to the girl to check on her, only for Trunks to continue looking at the kids with a slightly confused look.

"_I said I'd wait for a few more to show up but that was quick..."_


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Arriving in the Past?! Trunks' Proposition!**

* * *

"Come on Tsukimi! Wake up!" Yuuki was still standing over the unconscious girl, waving a paper fan in front of her face as she lay on a nearby couch.

"I guess this is a pretty big shock to her, if you guys have any questions feel free to ask." Trunks sat at a table that was in the middle of his room, his blue eyes trailing over the rest of the children as they began looking around the room.

"Okay I only got one question for you; what the hell is going on here? I mean we were playing a damned arcade game and somehow ended up here! That doesn't make sense!" Kasumi placed her hands on her hips, looking straight into the older teen's eyes with an accusing glare.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story but I'll try giving you all the short version. A few days ago, a creature that I had never seen before stole my original time machine. I still don't know what it was but it only referred to itself as 'Cell'. After it still my time machine, I'm assuming that it left for the past, and after trying to save the past from the androids and failing, I knew that I couldn't do this on my own anymore. I needed help. My mother created those cards you all have, they're actually miniature time machines that work together with the game systems you all used. They will send you all back in time but only if you have at least a forth saiyan blood in your veins. I went back into your time a few days ago to leave the game and the cards and just waited to see if they would work." Trunks explained as Kasumi took a glance at Tsukimi and breathed out a sigh.

"Damn, she was right the whole time. Now I owe her a latte." She muttered under her breath only for Akihiko to speak up next.

"Granted your story is true, and we haven't a reason to distrust you, I have one question for you; If these time machines you sent into our time line were mass-produced, are you able to track whoever uses them to time travel?" He asked in his usual formal manner of speaking while also having a stern tone in his voice.

"Yeah we do, my mother keeps track of that. Why do you ask?"

"My cousin Satoshi and his friend Hotaru went missing from our home recently, I am just wondering if the time machines were the cause of their disappearances." The moment Trunks heard the names, his eyes widened slightly, remembering the images of the two children he had seen landing in the outskirts of North City just a few hours ago.

"They were sent about nineteen years into the past, my mother found the signals for their Hero Licenses on her computer but the last time we looked, their life forces were perfectly fine. We aren't sure why, but they were sent to the outskirts of North City and have been in that area for a while now." Akihiko's eyes widened slightly when he heard that, all of the kids turned their eyes towards Trunks with shock and disbelief.

"Outside North City... That's where Dr. Gero's lab is." Yuuki was the first to break the silence, but the moment his name was uttered, Trunks' eyes widened as well in shock.

"You said that their life forces were perfectly fine, did you note? If so, can you check again?" Akihiko asked, though he tried to keep his calm demeanor, worry and concern could easily be seen on his features.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that. And I made tea for everyone if you want some." Bulma had come back into the room, setting down a tray with a tea kettle with eight cups next to it on the table before going over to her computer and turning it on.

"Thank you, I am very concerned about their well-being." Akihiko breathed out a sigh, only for Kimiko to give him a concerned look. She was worried about Satoshi and Hotaru as well but was mostly worried about Akihiko. She hated seeing him look so worried.

"Don't worry Akihiko, knowing Satoshi and Hotaru, I am confident that they are safe." Kimiko offered the boy a kind smile as she placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder.

"Um...You may want to hold on to that thought." Bulma said with slightly wide eyes as she looked at her computer screen.

"Why Mom? Did something happen?" Trunks asked as he looked at the screen and his blue eyes widened as well.

"...Their live forces have vanished." Bulma concluded as the kids eyes all widened and looked at her with disbelief.

"What the hell do you mean they vanished?!" Mamoru demanded only to stop when he saw Akihiko walking towards the computer and look at the screen.

"Their life forces are gone, the licenses track your health and life forces but when one is giving off a signal like this... that means they've..." Bulma trailed off, but the others knew full-well what this meant.

"No way... Satoshi and Hotaru are..." Kasumi spoke with slightly wide eyes, they all felt like they were in the middle of a horrible nightmare but refused to wake up, no matter how horrible the news was to them.

"Akihiko..." Kimiko looked at the boy who was simply staring back at the computer screen, but was slightly surprised to see that his expression had no changed since receiving that news.

"They are not dead." He spoke simply with a slightly determined look on his face.

"Akihiko, dude, I know it's hard to accept but-" Mamoru started as Akihiko turned to face him. "I know for a fact that they are still alive. Satoshi isn't the type of person who would be taken down so easily. The fact that their life forces are gone must be a technical error."

"Uh, I doubt that. I created the licenses with my own two hands, they are almost foolproof, the one thing I can't control is where the time travel will take you when you use it." Bulma said with a slightly offended tone of voice.

"I am aware of that, and I am assuming these cards only work in two ways, it can sent us into the past and back to our time but not into another area of the past." Akihiko said, looking down at the reflective orange card in his hand.

"That's right, if you press that button on the back of it, it'll send you back to your own time line, but why is that important?" Bulma asked, seeing the boy glowering down at the card in his eyes before directing his attention back towards Trunks. "I graciously ask you to take me where my cousin is."

"Dude, seriously, you need to start talking like a normal guy, a normal fourteen year old boy doesn't talk like that." Kasumi breathed out a sigh as Trunks shook his head slightly. "I can't do that, fuel is really scarce here, I only have enough for one more round trip to the past to come back here, and if I go back there now, I won't be able to take on the androids by myself. And I will just further alter the course of history."

"But we can't just leave our friends there! There has to be something we can do Trunks!" Yuuki spoke with a determination burning within his eyes.

"I can't send you into the past, but if you all want, I can train you." Trunks spoke as Yuuki's eyes widened slightly. "Train us? You mean to fight?"

"Of course, you all have saiyan blood in your veins, and if you want, you can learn to use it." Trunks said, taking a step towards the window and breathed out a sigh as he saw how baron the area around his home was, though this was not an unfamiliar sight for him, buildings destroyed, areas completely devoid of life.

"Wait a sec, you're supposed to be able to turn into a super saiyan right? Then how come you can't just kill these androids?" Mamoru asked as Trunks narrowed his eyes into a slight glare out the window. "I've tried, no matter how hard I fight them, no matter how much I push myself to the very limit, they always have the upper hand on me... I believe the only reason they haven't killed me yet is because they enjoy seeing me try to defeat them, I'm just another pawn in their sadistic game. I can't do this alone, that's why my mother made those cards, so we could ask for help from another time where the androids no longer exist. I know this is a lot to ask of you kids, and I know that this is a major change from the lives you're all used to living, but I need your help, if you want to help me, then let me train you all to fight, I really believe that you kids could be the key to finally being rid of these androids. But you're free to turn down my offer as well, this isn't exactly your problem to deal with so if you don't want to, you can return to your own time and continue to live your lives like you normally would." As Trunks finished speaking, Tsukimi had already opened her eyes, still lying on the couch and listening to every word the teen had said.

"_Dad always told me to fight to help others, he would want me to help Trunks. But what about Mom? And Kiri, Sora and Aya?... I can't just leave them alone without any explanation."_ Those thoughts were the only ones going through her mind right now, she truly wanted to help Trunks, she knew the kind of hell he was forced to live in, and knew that if her father were still with her, then he would tell her to help him, but that left the issue of the rest of her family weighing heavily on her mind.

"Train to fight a bunch of androids? I don't know, we could die." Mamoru said, thinking aloud, Kimiko was glancing down at her feet with an unsure expression on her face. _"I don't know if I can do this, I've never raised my hand to anyone before..."_

"You all don't have to decide now, we'll keep an eye on your friends from here but you all can go back to your own time and think about my offer. The choice is completely up to you." Trunks finished as the kids all looked at each other with unsure expressions, only for Yuuki to turn around when he spotted Tsukimi getting off the couch.

"Oh Tsukimi! Are you alright now?" He asked as the bow-wearing girl nodded and brushed herself off. "I think the time travel must've made me light headed but I'm fine now. Come on you guys, we should get back home." She said, taking her card out of her pocket.

"But Tsukimi, did you hear-" Kasumi started until earning and nod from the girl as she pressed the return button on her card, making her fade away from their sight.

"Thank you for your hospitality, the both of you. We will come back once we come to a decision." Kimiko assured the two with a kind smile on her face.

"Take your time, you don't have to rush." Trunks told them as he watched them all vanish one by one until he was left alone with his mother in the room where he breathed out a heavy sigh and placed his in his hands. "How the hell could this happen? Two of their friends are already dead because of this stupid plan!"

"Now Trunks, don't beat yourself up over this, now listen, I think that the kids might have a point, I don't think those two are really dead, I mean the androids aren't even in that area yet so what could possibly kill them? It might just be a bug in the system and I'm gonna see if I can fix it." Bulma offered her son a kind smile before turning back over to her desk and began working.

"I hope you're right mother... I really hope you're right."

* * *

"Yo Tsukimi! Where you going in such a hurry?" Kasumi asked once all of the kids had returned to the arcade and spotted Tsukimi quickly heading out of the building. "Are you stupid? I'm going to help Trunks and that means I have to make sure I'm in the best shape of my life! I still don't know what I'm going to tell my mom about this but I'll think of it while I'm training."

"Are you nuts?! You can't possibly be serious about this Tsukimi! I mean these are real androids he wants you to face! You could get hurt or even killed!" Yuuki said in a worried tone as he started going after her, only to stop when the bow-wearing girl turned around to face him.

"I know that Yuuki! I know full well that there's a chance I could die while helping Trunks but you saw how horrible he has to live! Those androids have made his life a living hell! And I for one am not going to stand by and do nothing while he continues to suffer with what little of the Earth's population is left while I simply stay at home acting like that never happened! My father didn't raise me that way! He always taught me that I have to help people who need it, with the skills he taught me before he died, that I should do good with them and that is exactly what I intend to do! I don't know about the rest of you guys but I am going to help him!" Tsukimi finished before turning back around and continued going down the sidewalk.

"Man, she is nuts." Mamoru sighed as he shook his head, Yuuki could only look after the girl as she continued to go down the sidewalk, he could plainly see the determination and hear it in her voice, he could see the flames of bravery flickering behind her eyes, and knew that there was no way any of them were going to be able to convince her to change her mind.

"I can't believe Tsukimi's actually considering this, I mean time travel, androids, it's all just too much for me to take in." Kasumi sighed, placing her hand on her forehead.

"I know the feeling, there's no way I can go off and nearly get killed, I have a mom and a little sister that need me, they wouldn't be able to survive if I died." Mamoru said before glancing at Akihiko. "You're not seriously considering this, are you Akihiko?"

"...I have some thinking to do, and it is already late anyway." Akihiko spoke simply as he started walking down the sidewalk, leaving the rest of the group alone and Kimiko only looking after him with a concerned expression.

"_Akihiko... I know you want to help Satoshi and Hotaru but if anything were to happen to you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.."_

"What about you Kimiko? There's no way you'd ever agree to something like this, I mean you've never been the fighting type." Kasumi said as Kimiko glanced down at her feet once more. "I am aware of that... I have some thinking to do as well.."

"Hey, how about we all talk about it in the morning? It is getting kind of late and the last thing I need is to get grounded." Yuuki broke the tension and offered his usual cheerful grin to the other three.

"Yeah you're right, see you guys later then." Mamoru said, taking his skateboard out of his backpack and started riding off into the night.

"Yeah you're right, My dad's probably gonna flip that I'm still out, I'll see you guys later!" Kasumi said as she started running in the same direction Mamoru had ridden off in.

"Hey Kimiko, you want me to walk you home?" Yuuki asked as the short-haired girl only nodded slightly as she began following him. "Thank you Yuuki."

As the two began walking down the busy sidewalk being illuminated by the many neon signs from the different businesses trailing down the street, Yuuki couldn't help but glance over his shoulder at Kimiko. He knew she wasn't the fighting type, and wasn't sure what she was going to do about this sudden proposition they were just offered.

He saw her eyes trail down to her feet once more, a habit she had when she was lost in though or had a hard decision to make.

"Look, Kimiko, I know this is shocking. Believe me, I know that this whole time travel thing is shocking, and then there's this mess about Hotaru and Satoshi being stuck in the past." Yuuki finally broke the silence, only to have Kimiko glance back up at him slightly.

"This is all a big shock... If I do decide to join Tsukimi, I can't help but wonder if I could become stronger." Kimiko looked down at her open hands, for as long as she could remember, she's never felt like the strong type, someone always had to come in and help her or save her from something she couldn't deal with herself.

And quite frankly, she was sick of it.

"I know the feeling, I'm not the strongest guy around, and you know that I used to get my ass handed to me a lot when I was a kid. There were times when I just wanted to be strong like my dad was, to be able to stand up for myself even if it was just one time. I'm not strong, maybe that's why Tsukimi and I got to be friends, she was always protecting me and standing up for me, she was always so strong and in a way, I envy her. Even now." Yuuki breathed out a sigh, just thinking about all of the times Tsukimi had to save him made him realize just how much he's come to depend on her but not only as a friend, but as a beacon of light in general.

"I know Akihiko will agree to this. He was always a strong person... But I fear that he may go somewhere where I cannot follow him, and that thought alone terrifies me." Kimiko trailed off, she was completely at a loss, she couldn't decide what to do, her mind was waging a war over what she should do and neither side was giving an inch.

"I wouldn't doubt if Akihiko agreed to go back there, I just don't know if I'm cut out to join them. But I think we should go along with them." Yuuki turned around with a cheerful grin as he arrived in front of the golden gates of Kimiko's manor.

"But what if we can't keep up with them Yuuki? What if all of our efforts would be for not?" Kimiko asked, still mentally battling her own doubts, only to blink in surprise when Yuuki placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it Kimiko, My dad always told me to follow my heart, and that's what I'm going to do. My heart tells me to follow Tsukimi, no matter what she decides to do, and that's my decision. Besides, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything were to happen to Tsukimi and I was just sitting at home like nothing was going on."

"Yuuki..." Kimiko could see that he was still apprehensive about his decision, that a part of his mind was still telling him that this was the wrong choice, but his devotion to Tsukimi was his guiding light, and seemed to be pulling her into its force.

"You're right. Tomorrow I will tell Akihiko that I will go back and help Trunks with Tsukimi." She could feel confidence begin to beat within her heart, she could never truly understand what this force was, but whenever Yuuki told her that something was going to be alright, she always found herself listening to him.

"That's great, I'll text the others and tell them that we're gonna meet at the arcade tomorrow, and come to a decision. I'll see you then!" Yuuki grinned as he began running down the sidewalk, leaving Kimiko to smile softly as she watched him going off.

"_Yuuki is right, I cannot worry so much about my own limitations. I have to be there for Akihiko, and I will not let myself fall behind him."_

* * *

**_Sorry for taking so long with this chapter! I want to update daily but with summer around the corner I've been swamped with finals, babysitting, housework and all that crap but I hope you love this chapter! _**

**_I also want to give a big hug to Gohan4 for her really sweet review! It's reviews like that, that keep me writing and wanting to improve so please keep them coming! X3_**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Doubts and Concerns! A Troubling Decision To Make!**

* * *

Tsukimi slowed down from a run to a walk along the sidewalk, she lived more outside the bustling part of the city, in a more suburban part of the city, the streets were lined with cozy houses, trees in the front yards, white picket fences, basically the definition of the normal peaceful neighborhood.

As she continued to walk down the sidewalk, she began walking towards where the neighborhood ended, in a more empty part of the city that had become a large graveyard.

Walking past the black gates of the graveyard, her eyes began trailing around at the many different tombstones that lined the ground, for anyone else, this would be a creepy place, but not to Tsukimi. It was quite the opposite with her, she found the graveyard comforting in a sense, she stopped when she reached a large stone tombstone.

"_Here lies Daichi Masami, a loving father, husband, and kindhearted individual. 1062-1097."_

Tsukimi knelt down to the ground, reaching into her backpack and pulled out an incense stick and lit it with a match she had, sticking into the ground in front of the ground as she placed her hands together to pray.

"_Hey Dad, it's been a while since I last came here. But I came here to ask for your advice. This boy that I like a lot needs my help, but it would require me leaving mom and Kiri, Sora, and Aya alone for a while, what should I do? I could really use your advice."_

The bow-wearing girl kept her hands together, trying to figure out what her father would want her to do, her father was a wise man, he always seemed to know what to do and when to do it as well.

She always came to him for advice when she needed it, that is, until his untimely death.

As she kept her eyes closed, all Tsukimi could hear were Trunks' words echoing in her mind, repeating like an iPod left on repeat. She didn't look at him, but she could hear in his voice that he needed her.

After a few more seconds passed, Tsukimi opened her eyes, smiling softly at the tombstone as she got up. "Thank you Dad, I know what to do now. Don't worry I'll come back soon." She said as she began walking out of the graveyard, her mind was now made up and she had come to a decision.

* * *

Kasumi sighed as she approached her house, she knew that her father was probably worried about her and was possibly plotting with her three older brothers to start a search party for her.

"Hey I'm home." She said, opening the door, only to blink when she felt herself being brought to her father's chest.

"OH THERE YOU ARE! I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU MY LITTLE ANGEL! I was worried something had happened to you! If anything were to happen to you I wouldn't be able to live myself or face your dear late mother!" Her father had spiked black hair in a short style, his skin was a shade darker than her own and his body was more in-shape than you would expect from a man in his 30's.

"Alright Dad! I'm fine! You can let go now!" Kasumi managed to slip out of her father's bear hug and started brushing herself off. "So where's Eiji, Daigo, and Takato?" She asked as she walked into the house and started walking to the kitchen.

"Probably still out playing basketball or something, but I'm not worried about them, they can handle each other pretty well, it's you that I worry about sweetie." Shouji said, walking towards the oven and opening it, pulling out a pot roast as Kasumi picked up a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Yeah well you don't need to worry about me so much Dad, I'm not weak and defenseless, now Kimiko is weak and defenseless, I know how to use these, you know mom didn't raise no weakling." Kasumi said with a small smirk as she sat at the dining room table and set her backpack down.

"I know that, you are so much like your mother and it makes me so proud, I just know that your mother would be so proud if she could see you..." Shouji clenched his fists before running to the living room.

"OH MY BEAUTIFUL QUEEN~! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE US?! YOU WERE TOO MUCH OF A GODDESS FOR THIS WORLD! WE WEREN'T WORTHY OF YOU!" He sobbed in front of a large portrait of Kasumi's mother Kameko.

One word to describe this woman would be beautiful, her skin was the exact same shade as Kasumi's, her black hair, while long was spiked in several places like Kasumi's hair, her piercing black eyes- in the words of Shouji- 'Had the power to captivate any man and steal any heart she wanted'.

"Dad, you really need to take down that portrait of Mom, it's getting creepy." Kasumi said with a rather unamused look as she looked at her father, practically worshiping the picture of his late wife.

"B-But she was an angel! She was too good for this world!" Shouji had tears streaming down his face as he looked at the portrait above the fireplace.

Kasumi just breathed a defeated sigh, reaching into her pocket and pulled out the reflective orange card. She couldn't help but think about everything that had happened today, time travel, learning the saiyans exist, knowing that two of her friends are missing and possibly dead.

"_I wonder if the others are gonna go? I mean, it'd look pretty bad if they all went and left me behind." _ She thought to herself as she picked up her backpack, slung it over her shoulder and started climbing the stars.

"I'll be in my room Dad." She said to her sobbing Father who nodded. "D-Dinner will be ready in half an hour... OH MY BEAUTIFUL QUEEN WHY?!"

Kasumi let out another sigh as she walked into her room and threw her backpack onto her bed before sitting down. "Man, I guess Mom must've loved having Dad worship her." She muttered to herself as she picked up her black book from her backpack.

"_Would you want me to go along with this mom?"_

She could remember her mother as being a strong person, a beautiful woman, the kind of woman that made others jealous with not only her beauty but her sharp wit and even sharper tongue.

"_What should I do mom? What would you do if you were in my shoes?" _She laid back on her bed, only looking at the picture on her nightstand of herself with her mother, the two had a nice day at the beach that day, Kameko in a form-fitting black one piece suit while Kasumi was wearing a cute purple one with black stars all over it.

"_What would you do Mom?"_

* * *

"Yo! I'm home!" Mamoru had arrived home on his skateboard, putting it under his arm as he walked into his house, only to smile lightly as he saw his five-year old sister Sakura running over to him happily.

"Big Brother! You're home!" She beamed, jumping into the boy's arms.

"Hey Suki, sorry I'm late, I had some stuff to do." Mamoru chuckled as he started walking into the living room with the small girl.

Suki was just a nickname that everyone they knew had gotten accustomed to calling her since that was her first word as a baby. The five-year old girl was on the small side, like any little girl, her short, black hair was tied into a pair of small pigtails with a pair of pink ribbons, but unlike Mamoru, she had a fair skin tone where as his was more tanned.

"Oh there you are! I was wondering when you would come home!" Mamoru's mother Izumi had come out of the kitchen, with a bright smile on her face.

Her hair was tied into a slightly messy ponytail, she seemed to be more curvy than one would expect, her thighs and bust could easily be considered large but it seemed to be all muscle instead of body fat, she was still donning her work attire which had a white apron on over it.

"Hey Mom, sorry I'm late, I had... some stuff to take care of." Mamoru spoke as he set his little sister on the couch and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Oh don't worry about it, I had an early day so I was able to pick up Suki from preschool, dinner will be ready in a little bit so go get washed up." The raven-haired woman smiled as Mamoru started heading up the stairs.

"Right, I'm on it." He said as he started walking to the bathroom, but not before picking up his hero license from his bag, he honestly wasn't sure if he should even consider going into the past just to help someone he had just met.

He had a family waiting for him, he had a little sister to help take care of and a mother who worked more than she was at home so he had too much at stake to just leave them like that.

"_Man, this isn't going to be easy. I can't just leave Mom and Suki alone here, Mom's job keeps her away from home too long and I can't just leave a five year old home alone... But what if I don't and it messed up history? Like those androids are still alive here? I can't put Suki through that! Oh man I'm making my head hurt.." _ Mamoru sighed as he leaned on the sink, whenever he over thought about something, he found himself with a headache of some sort.

"Mamoru, Honey! Are you done? It's dinner time!" His mother called from downstairs, snapping him out of his thoughts for the most part as he shoved his card back in his pocket.

"Alright! I'll be down in a sec!" He said, but the many possibilities of the effect his choice could have on his family's lives was weighing heavily on his shoulders.

"_What should I do?"_

* * *

Akihiko was already back in his room, just glowering down at the reflective orange card he had placed on his bed. _"Hmmm, time travel is possible, that much is certain. I know that Satoshi and Hotaru have to be alive, I just have that feeling."_ He thought to himself before hearing a knock at the door.

"U-Um... Young Master? D-Dinner is ready?" A rather timid voice spoke on the other side of the door. When Akihiko opened his door, he saw Anise, one of the maids that lived in his home standing in front of him, she had large glasses on with thick lenses, making it hard to truly see her eyes. Her uniform was more old-fashioned than the uniform the other maids wore, a simple pale blue and white color scheme, but the sleeves were long enough to cover her arms and the skirt reached her ankles.

Her short hair was tied into a pair of small pigtails with a pair of black ribbons and had this nervous air around her. "Thank you Anise, please try to relax." Akihiko sighed as he began walking past the timid girl. "R-Right.."

Akihiko couldn't stop himself from thinking about what had happened, he knew he had to help Satoshi, he felt that it was his duty as his cousin to help him and Hotaru out of this situation, but the fact that Bulma and Trunks had not detected a life force from them troubled him greatly.

He was hoping that was a technological problem, perhaps the cards they got were defective? That was the best possible scenario for them, he could not even bear the thought of Satoshi being dead somewhere where he could not follow.

"U-Um Young Master? Is everything alright?... You look a little nervous." Anise spoke up once more, for as long as Akihiko's known her, she has always been the timid type, and seems to suffer from Androphobia for some reason but he always felt it was better not to pry in their personal business.

"I just have a lot on my mind Anise, I am fine." That was putting it mildly, his mind was abuzz with what could happen depending on his choices, worrying about if Satoshi and Hotaru were truly alright or not, and it was getting hard for him to keep his normal composure.

Once he stepped into the large dining room, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning around to face the timid maid that had followed him.

"Anise, answer me this hypothetical question; If you were to realize time travel were real, and had the chance to go back in time to stop a great tragedy and many innocent deaths, would you do it?" He asked as the white-haired girl suddenly started thinking.

"W-Well... I think I would. I mean, I'm not strong at all so I don't know how I would be able to help but if I could I would do it, especially if it meant innocent people didn't have to die." A small smile appeared on Akihiko's face as he sat down.

"Thank you Anise, that is all I needed to know." He spoke before seeing the head cook of his house, Rosemary come in pushing a tray full of food towards the table. "Your parents should be here any moment Young Master." She informed Akihiko with the usual bright smile she always wore, her hair was a cream-color, like a platinum blond and was slightly shaggy, stopping just as it reached the small of her back, her body could be described no less as beautiful, curves in all of the right places though she had a habit of keeping her eyes closed a lot, Akihiko thought nothing of it.

The most peculiar trait Rosemary had though was the fact that she was always seen with a katana tied around her waist, no matter what she was doing, she always kept that Katana close to her.

"Are you alright Young Master? You look a little tense." Rosemary gave a concerned glance at Akihiko who simply dismissed her. "I am fine, I just had a lot to think about, that is all."

* * *

A slightly heavy sigh escaped Kimiko's lips as she sat down on her fluffy white bed. Even though what Yuuki said hit close to home, she was still unsure if accompanying her friends on this dangerous mission was the right thing for her to do, she couldn't deny that she was weak, she had never thrown a punch before, and as far as anyone else was concerned, she was just another pampered little heiress who needed bodyguards to get her out of any dangerous situations she was unfortunate enough to get herself into.

"_What should I do? Surely if I go I will just be a burden on everyone else, but if I don't go I may regret it.." _She was snapped out of her thoughts when she hard a knock at her door.

"Young Miss? I have brought you some tea, you seemed troubled during dinner." Outside the door was the head butler of Kimiko's estate, holding a tray with a pale blue tea pot and a beautifully made teacup next to it.

"Oh Chives, thank you. I just have a lot on my mind." Kimiko gave the raven-haired man a kind smile as he let himself into her room, setting the tray down on her nightstand as he proceeded to gracefully pour the tea into a cup.

"I have known you since you were a young girl, I can tell when something is deeply troubling you young miss." He handed Kimiko the cup, only for her to seemingly stare down at her own reflection in the tea.

"I am not sure if I can tell you Chives, the whole situation seems so surreal to me... Like any moment I will awaken back in my bed and the whole thing would have been a dream."

"Young Miss, you know that you can talk to me about anything, it is my job to lend a sympathetic ear. Surely it cannot be that bad." Kimiko glanced up at the man sitting next to her, the kind smile on his face, she had known this man for a long time, he was like a brother to her, she could always talk to Chives if something were on her mind, but she wasn't sure what he would tell her about this particular situation.

"Chives... If you had the chance to become stronger, to save innocent lives, while being completely aware that you could lose your life in the process, would you do it?"

The raven-haired man adjusted his glasses slightly, seemingly thinking about the question for a moment before coming up with an answer. "If I had the opportunity to do something like that, I would simply do what my heart told me to do. The heart is the ultimate source of wisdom. Most say that the mind is but when you over think things, that will hinder your choice and make you consider possible outcomes that may never come to be. The best thing to do when faced with that kind of choice, is simply listen to your heart, Young Miss."

Kimiko looked back at the kind smile Chives was giving her, he was always wise, even though she never knew how old he really was, she did know that she could trust him. "Thank you Chives, I think I know what to do now." She said with a smile, setting the tea cup down and hugged the suit-wearing man.

"It is my pleasure, Young Miss." Chives smiled softly, placing a comforting hand on the girl's head.

* * *

"Tsukimi? Is there something you wanted to tell me Dear?" Tsukimi's mother, Aimi asked as she sat down at the kitchen table, stirring the cup of coffee in her hand, only giving a slightly puzzled look to her daughter.

"Yes. Listen Mom, I know you won't want to hear this, but two of my friends are missing, and a boy I like is in a lot of trouble. I have to help him, I've already made up my mind and I'll be leaving tomorrow, I don't know how long I'll be gone but I'll be alright." Tsukimi said in a more formal tone than she had expected to speak in.

Aimi just sat down at the table, running her hand through her long, wavy black hair before looking down at the cup of coffee in her hand. She could see how determined Tsukimi was, she did not know the whole situation, but she knew that trying to forbid her daughter from doing something that could be dangerous would just push her away even more.

But on the other hand, she couldn't possibly condone something like that! She was her daughter! She couldn't just let her go off to God-knows where on her own like that!

"_Oh Darling, I wish you were here right now, you always knew how to handle the girls better than I could."_ As that thought went past her mind, her eyes trailed back up to meet with Tsukimi's and there it was; that spark. The fire she often saw whenever she looked into her oldest daughter's eyes. The same spark that her father had in his eyes.

"Tsukimi, you know I can't approve of this, what if you get hurt? I couldn't bear live with myself if I lost you too." Aimi breathed out a sigh, only for Tsukimi to place her hands on the table. "But this is what dad would want me to do! I know for a fact that he wants me to do this! Please Mom, let me go, I have to help my friends! Dad always told me to use these martial arts he taught me to help others, and that's what I have to do!"

"...Alright, but please Tsukimi, promise me that you'll be careful. I don't want to lose you too." Aimi said, walking over to Tsukimi and hugging her tightly.

"Don't worry Mom, I'll me fine, you know how strong I am, there's no way anyone can beat me." Tsukimi smiled softly as she hugged her mother back, but she knew this was something she had to do, she mad to be prepare to give up her life for the greater good, that was something her father taught her at an early age.

"_I'll be alright, this is what Dad wants for me. Now I can make him proud to have me as a daughter from up in heaven."_

* * *

"_Okay, what am I gonna tell Mom? I mean she's really protective of me, there's no way I can just say 'Hey mom, my friends and I are going back in time to help Trunks and save Satoshi and Hotaru from being turned into androids or something, don't wait up!'." _Yuuki sighed as he walked into the living room, only to blink when she saw the shocked expressions on both his older brother Isamu and his mother Misao's faces.

"What's wrong?" He asked, only for Isamu to be the one to speak up. "You're going into the past to save your friends from being turned into androids?" The sixteen-year old's eyes were as wide as saucers along with his mother.

"..I-I said that?" Yuuki blinked only to mentally kick himself. _"DAMN IT! I SAID THAT OUT LOUD! OH GOD I AM STUPID!" _

"A-Absolutely not! I am not letting my little boy go off anywhere that might be dangerous! Let alone back in time!" Misao said firmly, after the initial shock had worn off, her maternal instincts kicked in once again.

"But Mom! I know this is dangerous but I have to go! My friends need my help!" Yuuki objected he still had his doubts about going, but he knew that his friends needed him and that was more important that any doubts he may have had.

"Okay, I can get past the whole 'time travel' thing, but this sounds dangerous little brother. Are you sure about this?" Isamu asked, shoving his hand into the pocket of his black skinny jeans and placed his hand on Yuuki's head.

"I'm sure about this, I have to help my friends. Besides, I know if Dad were here, he would tell me to go along with it." Yuuki said, glancing away a little bit. His father's death had a large impact on him, there were still times when he found himself missing him, but right now wasn't one of those times.

"But even so! I can't just sit by and let you-" The brunette woman spoke up before seeing Isamu step in front of her.

"Alright, we'll let you go, but you gotta be careful, I don't think I can stop Mom from bawling her eyes out if you croak too." Isamu said with a small chuckle, Yuuki was standing in a slight state of shock before snapping out of it and smiling back at him. "Thank you Isamu! Don't worry Mom I'll be fine! I promise!" He said before rushing up the stairs and towards his room.

"Yuuki wait! I didn't say it was alright!" Misao called after her son, only to then look at her oldest son with accusing eyes. "How could you tell him he could go?! This sounds dangerous Isamu! Don't you care about your little brother?!" The brunette placed her hands on her hips as the teenager sat down on the couch, casually moving his bangs, that were frosted red on the edge, and covering his right eye out of the way slightly.

"I know this is dangerous but think of it this way Mom; what would Dad have told him to do?"

At the mere mention of her husband, Misao started thinking about it a little bit before taking a seat on the couch next to her son.

"...He would have told Yuuki the exact same thing you did, he would have told him to go ahead and fight with his friends by his side, to try and become stronger." Misao breathed out a defeated sigh, even if she were to try forbidding Yuuki this time, there was no guarantee that he would even listen to her.

"Exactly. So we might as well let him go, I wouldn't worry about him, he took more after Dad than I did and you remember how strong he was." Isamu said, picking up the last family photo they had taken before Takeshi's untimely death. He was only eight years old, and Yuuki at the tender age of seven.

The photo could be described as the perfect family portrait, Misao was standing next to her loving husband, her chestnut brown hair was teased into a set of small ringlets at the end and had a white flower placed behind her right ear, the pale pink sundress she was wearing clung to her body as she happily had her hands wrapped around Isamu.

Yuuki was smiling brightly and being held up by his father, he was a slightly larger man but was clearly in shape and had muscle tone all on his body. His hair was short and spiked, and was wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses and a white dress shirt that seemed to show off his toned chest more.

The smile on his face was exactly like that of his young son, one could truly see that Yuuki was his son.

"You're right but still... A mother can't help but worry."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Return To The Future! Gerome Awakens?!**

* * *

"_What's going on? Why can't I see anything?"__Tsukimi tried to look around at her surroundings but all around her she saw nothing but darkness. _

"_Is anyone there?" She called, but it seemed that she was completely alone in this empty space. Without seeing much choice, she started walking around, trying to find anyone or anything in this realm of complete darkness._

"_I can't even see my own hand in front of my face." Tsukimi sighed, holding up her hand to her face but all she could see was pitch black in front of her. _

"_GUAH!"_

_Tsukimi shot up when she heard the scream and recognized its voice. That was Mamoru's voice, but it was put to an abrupt halt just as soon as he began screaming. "Mamoru?! Hey! Mamoru can you hear me!" She called and began looking around the area more frantically, her heart pounding in her chest with anxiety as she heard scream after scream invade her eardrums only to be silenced as quickly as they had appeared. _

"_What is going on here?! Someone answer me!" Tsukimi yelled as she started running down a seemingly endless path, she could see nothing but darkness, she couldn't even tell if she was going forwards or backwards or even if she was getting any closer to her friends. All her instincts were telling her to do was run._

_As she continued to run, she suddenly shielded her eyes when she saw a bright light coming from the distance, illuminating the area around her. As she careful lowered her arm once her eyes began to adjust to the new light, they widened at the sight in front of her._

_All of her friends, their bodies lying around at her feet, and her hands tainted with blood. "W-What's going on?" Her mind had completely stopped, just trying to process what had happened was too much for her to take._

_Looking down at her blood soaked hands, Tsukimi then looked ahead at the bright light in the distance, and began running towards it._

"_Everyone... They're all dead! What's happening?! What's going on?! I don't understand! This wasn't supposed to happen! Someone please help us!" She yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks as she continued her sprint towards the light source, only to smile when she saw that it was coming from Trunks._

"_T-Trunks! Oh thank God you're still alive! We have to get out of here! I don't know what it is but something's killing everyone!" She said, quickly wrapping her arms around the teenager._

"_Is that so? Tell me Tsukimi, did he look anything like this?" Tsukimi's eyes widened when she heard Trunks' voice begin to change, becoming deeper with every word he spoke. She shakily rose her head to see that the man she was holding on to, had her arms wrapped around, was Cell in his perfect form._

"_Don't worry Little Girl, I will help you. You will see your friends again soon enough." He said with a sinister smirk appearing on his face as Tsukimi could only stare up at him with wide, tear stained eyes._

_She knew now who it was who killed her friends, and was after her life now as well. She couldn't escape, she couldn't run, she couldn't fight him, all she could do was stand there, waiting for him to make his next move. _

"_Good night." _

* * *

Tsukimi had awoken back in her bed, panting slightly, tears streaming from her eyes and her body covered in a thin layer of cold sweat.

Her heart was still pounding, her breath slightly labored.

"It was just a nightmare, I need to get a grip." She told herself as she sat up in her bed, placing her hand on her forehead and wiping off some of the sweat.

"I've never had a nightmare that bad before..." She spoke softly before reaching under her pillow, pulling out the Trunks card that she had kept under there, only being able to see it being illuminated by the moonlight peering in through her window.

A soft smile appeared on her face as she kissed the card gently and kept it in her hand. _"This is for you Trunks, __that was just a horrible nightmare, nothing more."_ She thought to herself, keeping the card in her hand next to her as she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down enough to fall back asleep.

But in the back of her mind, she was still having her doubts about her decision, this was dangerous, she couldn't deny that. But she couldn't just let innocent people die because she was scared of what would happen to her if she went.

That wasn't how her father raised her.

* * *

The next day came in the blink of an eye. Yuuki was already awake and double-checking to make sure he had everything he was sure he would need while on this little trip he was going to take.

His mind was made up, he had to follow Tsukimi on this mission she felt she had to complete, no matter how scared he would get would make him come back without Tsukimi and the rest of his friends by his side.

Once he made sure he had everything he would need, he zipped up his backpack and gave one last glance at the hero license in his pocket.

It all still seemed so surreal to him, time travel, androids, meeting Trunks, even now he still was wondering if he would wake up back in his bed to discover that none of this had actually happened and was all a very realistic dream.

But this was real, his friends needed his help, not just them, Trunks, and many other innocent people needed him to be brave and help them. And that is just what he was going to do.

Putting his red backpack over his shoulder, Yuuki began heading down the stairs, he had received a text message from Akihiko earlier, telling him that they would be meeting in front of the arcade.

"Alright I'm going!" He said as he entered the living room where he was blind sighted by a hug from his mother. "You promise me that you come back! I don't want anything happening to my baby boy!"

"Mom... I can't breath!" Yuuki was trying to push himself away from the bone crushing vice grip his mother had him in, only to gasp in relief when he felt Isamu pry Misao off the poor boy. "Come on Mom, he's gonna be fine, you need to quit worrying so much."

"Thanks Isamu, I thought I was gonna die for a second there." Yuuki sighed, trying to catch his breath once he began brushing himself off.

"But how do you know for sure? He's just a little boy Isamu! And I don't even know where he's going!" Misao said as she tried to hug Yuuki close to her again, only for the boy to hide behind his older brother to act as a shield.

"He's not a little boy Mom, he's thirteen, besides you need to get to work, you don't have time for worrying about Yuuki." Isamu sighed as he watched his mother get up from her crouching position and brushed herself off. "You're right but still. Please promise me that you'll be careful." Misao placed her hands on Yuuki's shoulders, her brown eyes peering back into her son's.

He had never seen this look before, he never thought that his mother would ever be so concerned about him, but he couldn't just abandon his friends. "Don't worry Mom, I'll be fine. I'll see you guys later." He smiled before heading out the door, leaving Isamu to chuckle slightly as he watched his little brother run down the sidewalk.

"He really is becoming more and more like dad everyday." He chuckled to himself as Misao just breathed out a sigh and picked up her purse. "Yes, and that's what worries me the most."

* * *

Akihiko was standing in front of the mall, checking his watch and glancing around at the various people that had passed him on the sidewalks, just wondering when his friends were going to show up.

Or even if they were going to show up at all.

"_I know this will be a dangerous mission. I would not be surprised if they chose not to show up. But no matter what happens, I have to find out for myself... If Satoshi really is dead or not."_

"Akihiko!" Snapping out of his thoughts, Akihiko glanced down the sidewalk, only to smile lightly when he spotted Kimiko running down the street and towards him. He had a feeling that he would at least have Kimiko accompanying him.

"Have I kept you waiting?" Kimiko asked, panting softly, she was active for the most part due to her soccer club activities but this was going to be different from soccer.

"No, not at all, you are the first to arrive." Akihiko took another glance at his watch before averting his eyes back over to Kimiko. To be honest, he wasn't even sure if she should join him on this endeavor. She was more of the pacifistic type, she was the gentle kind of girl whom would never want to harm anyone. He could not even recall a single time when she had ever raised her hand to anyone.

He didn't want to see her get hurt, or even killed. Especially if it was for his benefit.

Taking a small breath, Akihiko then turned to Kimiko, giving the girl a slightly concerned look. "Kimiko please promise me something."

"What kind of promise?" The short-haired girl asked with a slightly confused expression before looking back into Akihiko's eyes, it was there that she could see it, the concern he had for her, the amount of care he really had for her well-being.

"Please, promise me that if things get too dangerous over there, then you would return home." Akihiko glanced down at the hero license she had in her hand, he knew that it had a return button and if the time came, he wanted her to return, no matter what it would mean for himself.

"But Akihiko, I cannot just leave you alone there, especially if things were to get dangerous! I want to help you, I want to be there for you." Kimiko said before blinking when she saw Akihiko place his hands on her shoulders, causing a light blush to stain her cheeks.

"Please Kimiko, the last thing I would want if for you to get hurt or die on my behalf. Promise me, if things get dangerous, that you will return home." He looked back into her eyes with a stern look, he wasn't about to back down from this, not until she agreed to what he wanted her to do.

The gaze that interlocked with her own was beginning to be too much for Kimiko to take, her heart was already pounding within her chest, her face was flushed and she could feel herself getting more and more nervous as each second passed.

"...Okay. I promise that I will return home if things get too dangerous." She said, causing Akihiko to smile softly as he released her. "Thank you, that is comforting to know."

Kimiko was still blushing lightly and placed a hand upon her chest, feeling just how fast her heart was racing, she wasn't expecting that. Such a passionate gaze from Akihiko or for him to place his hands upon her shoulders.

She lightly touched her right shoulder, still feeling where Akihiko had placed his hands. He didn't hurt her at all, she knew Akihiko wasn't that sort who would ever hurt her even if he were to let his emotions get the better of him, but it was a slightly firm grip but enough to leave a lingering feeling on her shoulders.

"Hey! Akihiko! Kimiko!" The short-haired girl was snapped out of her thoughts when she spotted Yuuki and Tsukimi coming down the sidewalk with Mamoru riding his skateboard and Kasumi running after him.

"I trust you all have come to a decision?" Akihiko asked, only for Kasumi to sigh and pat the boy's back a little too hard. "Seriously! Talk like a normal person!"

"To answer your question, yeah we did. We're all going with you. I told my mom that I was going with you to go help a friend and she totally understood." Mamoru grinned as he held a black backpack over his shoulder.

"I told my dad the same thing, of course it took Mom's portrait to make him let go of me so I could leave." Kasumi sighed as she placed a hand on her hip.

"I actually ended up telling my mom everything by accident but it worked out in the end.' Yuuki chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I told my mom the truth, I wasn't going to keep something like this from her and she let me go. So let's quit talking already and get in there, we have a couple of friends we have to save." Tsukimi said as she began walking into the mall.

"Thank you, everyone. For a minute, I was concerned if I would have to return to Trunks on my own." Akihiko said before finding Mamoru with his arm around his shoulders, wearing a cheerful grin. "Hey we're friends! We got your back man!"

"He's right, if you need our help Akihiko, you can count on us." Yuuki smiled as he followed the others into the arcade.

"Now if we could just help you talk like a normal person we'd be doing great." Kasumi chuckled as she started walking in.

"Really, thank you everyone." Akihiko smiled softly as the kids then found themselves in front of the arcade machines they had first used to go into the past.

"Is everyone ready?" Tsukimi asked as she took her hero license out of her pocket with the others following suit behind her. "Yeah, we're ready." Yuuki nodded and at the same time, all six kids had put their cards into the machines, making the screens begin to blink black and white and almost as soon as they could comprehend it, the kids found themselves back in Bulma's laboratory.

"Well I didn't think we'd be seeing you all again so soon." Bulma chuckled as she turned in her office chair to face the kids.

"Yes, we have all come to a decision. We want to train here, we will help Trunks defeat the monster that had stolen his time machine." Akihiko spoke in his usual polite and formal tone of voice.

"Well that's great, Trunks should be coming back in a sec, he went out to go patrol the area. He was so anxious about what you kids would decide to do that he couldn't stay still." Bulma sighed, only to hear the door to her lab open and see her teenaged son walk in. "Well so far- oh. I'm guessing that since you all are here you're going to train?" He asked, looking at the kids who all nodded.

"Yes, we want you to train us, we want to help you defeat that monster that stole your time machine. But we also want to make sure our friends are safe." Yuuki said as Trunks smiled slightly. "Alright, but I should warn you that this isn't going to be easy. I'm not going to hold back on your kids. That's not how my mentor would want me to train my new apprentices."

"Does this mean we get bad-ass swords like that?" Mamoru asked with a hopeful expression as he looked at the sword that Trunks had on his back, only for Kasumi to slap him upside his head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?!"

"For asking stupid-ass questions!"

"Please ignore those two, and I don't think we actually introduced ourselves before. My name is Tsukimi Masami and these are my friends Yuuki Yuukanhito, Akihiko Chino, Kimiko Shuurei, Kasumi Yuuga, and Mamoru Tsukemo." Tsukimi smiled as the lavender-haired teen who smiled slightly back at her. "Well I'm pretty sure you all know my name, but do any of you have any fighting experience?"

"The only one out of us who has any kind of experience fighting would be Tsukimi." Kasumi said as Tsukimi blushed slightly. "Well I run my father's dojo but it's not that big of a deal. I pretty much know the basics of fighting." She said with a slightly bashful chuckle.

"I have experience fighting as well. Rosemary, Saffron, and even Anise have sought to that." Akihiko spoke up, because of those three he was pretty used to dodging swords and even knew how to wield one since his maids felt it was important for him to learn to defend himself.

"Well this is going to be different from what you're used to learning. First off, I'm going to have to teach you all to use your ki. That's very important, after that I can teach you all to fly as well. So first we'll-" Trunks started before hearing a report coming in on the radio that was sitting on the table.

"_The androids have begun attacking the remnants of North City! Residents living there are advised to evacuate the area immediately before-"_ The report had cut to static, signaling that the androids had taken care of the reporter that was there.

"Damn it! Those androids again!" Trunks growled before starting to head out. "You all stay here!"

"Wait a sec! We came to help you, why can-" Yuuki stopped when he saw Tsukimi step in front of him. "Don't worry Trunks, we'll stay put." She said as the teen nodded and ran out of the house.

"Tsukimi! The hell was that for?" Mamoru asked as Tsukimi sighed slightly. "Even if we do know how to fight, Akihiko and I are the only ones with experience, if we went up against opponents that not even a super saiyan Trunks can defeat, we'd just be walking into a slaughter house and coming here would have been for nothing!" The moment Tsukimi said that, everyone glanced away slightly, knowing that she was right.

They weren't strong enough to deal with this kind of a threat, at least not yet anyway and still had to wait until they got stronger before they could fight alongside Trunks against these kinds of opponents.

"I have to admit. You're a smart bunch. I thought you would have tried going after Trunks. I guess it's a good thing that you know your limitations." Bulma smiled as she walked into the room, setting cups of tea on the table.

"It hasn't been easy on him at all, these androids are making life hell. But I still believe that a future where we don't have to deal with the androids is possible. Even if it can't be here, I still don't want anyone to have to suffer the wrath of those mechanical monsters."

"We know, we may have grown up in a time of peace but we're going to help him. And get stronger." Tsukimi said with a determined expression that seemed to brighten up the rest of the group.

"Yeah she's right, we might not be strong enough right now but that's what we came here for, to learn to kick ass!" Mamoru grinned.

"But we also came here to make sure our friends are safe, even if their life forces are not being shown on the computer, I have the utmost confidence that they are still safe." Akihiko said with a small smile as he took a sip from his cup.

"It's good to keep up that kind of attitude, this place is pretty big so you guys can stay in any room you want, we don't have a whole lot with the androids running around but feel free to make yourselves at home while you're here." Bulma smiled as she took a sip from her own cup.

"Thank you, we will. So do we wait until Trunks comes back?" Yuuki asked as he looked out the window.

"Pretty much, that's what I've been doing. There's not much else we can do but wait. I just hope he's playing it safe out there. I don't think I can handle losing him too." Bulma sighed before seeing Tsukimi smile at her. "Don't worry, we're not gonna let anything happen to Trunks."

"Thank you, I'm sure with the training you guys will get from Trunks, you'll get a lot stronger." Bulma smiled, but as Tsukimi began drinking her tea, she couldn't help but still have a few doubts about this plan.

She was strong her own right, she couldn't deny that, but the only people she's ever fought were opponents in tournaments and they weren't even that strong to begin with.

She figured that this would be a good test of her true strength, but the only worry that lingered on her mind was if she would pass or fail this little test.

* * *

Slowly Gerome's red eyes began to open, his vision still slightly blurry and was bordering on unconsciousness.

As he looked ahead he saw what looked like a small green been in front of it, he wasn't sure what it could do, or even if it would help him but he weakly reached his hand out to the bean, picking it up and placed it in his mouth, and as soon as he had swallowed it, his eyes widened when he felt the pain wracking his body vanish, the injuries that once littered his body were all gone and he had all of his energy restored.

Getting up from the grass, the purple bio-android gripped his fists a couple of times, making sure that the pain was gone, was it a stroke of luck? He wasn't sure but he took one glance up at the lab where he had fallen from, giving it a sharp glare as he clenched his fists.

He knew what he had to do now.

"_My energy is back, the pain is gone... Dr. Gero, I will not let you hurt those two any more."_


	7. Chapter 6

Looking down at his hands, Gerome was still trying to comprehend how he was able to recover so fast, could it have been the bean that he had just eaten? And where did it even come from in the first place?

He wasn't about to waste time asking questions, his red eyes narrowed as they glared at the entrance to Gero's lab, where Satoshi and Hotaru were being held against their will.

He was sick of taking abuse from Gero, he was tired of being deemed as a failure. Right now, his only concern was saving those two and making the old doctor suffer. He couldn't control him, he was a bio-android, a living being, not completely machine like Android 19 was. Gero couldn't control him, and it was possible that he knew that.

With a simple powerful leap, Gerome landed on the ledge of the lab in the middle of the mountain, glaring down at the powerful steel doors that kept him out.

Holding out his hand, a large ball of purple energy gathered in his palm before forcefully firing it at the steel doors, causing a large explosion, weakening the doors. Once Gerome walked over to the -now damaged- doors, he lightly tapped on them with his finger, making them fall over and into the laboratory.

"What is going on?!" Gero growled before narrowing his eyes into a glare when he looked at Gerome, standing in the doorway.

"You! I deemed you a failure Gerome! You should be dead! I don't know how you've managed to come this far but this is where it will end, Nineteen! Eliminate that pest!" Gero commanded as the large white android began walking over to Gerome. "Yes Doctor." But before Nineteen could do anything, he found himself being punched straight into a wall by Gerome who began walking towards Dr. Gero.

"I have nothing against you Nineteen, I do not want to get into a meaningless fight. Just release Satoshi and Hotaru and I won't hurt you two." Gerome glared back at Gero, who simply smirked as Nineteen quickly appeared from Gerome's side, delivering a swift kick out of the laboratory and gave Gerome a harsh punch that sent him spiraling into the ground.

"I tried to avoid confrontation but it looks like I have no choice." Gerome got up from the ground, wiping his mouth slightly before rushing in front of Android Nineteen, kicking him harshly in the stomach, then quickly elbowed him in the face before delivering a final round house kick that sent the white android skidding on the ground.

"How? How could he have gotten so powerful?" Dr. Gero was watching the fight front the mountain ledge, only stopping when he took a glance back into his laboratory and at the two capsules that were currently being scanned by various devices they were hooked up to.

"Hmph, no matter, the modifications are nearly done. These two are going to pick up the slack from both Nineteen and that traitor."

"I am giving you a choice Nineteen. I do not want to continue this meaningless fight, I just want to get my friends out of the lab before it's too late." Gerome walked over to Nineteen as he lay on the ground, only to duck when Nineteen jumped up, trying to headbutt the purple android only for Gerome to give him a harsh uppercut that sent him into the sky.

Following after the white android, Gerome began avoiding the flurry of punches Nineteen sent his way, trying to punch him as hard as he could, only for Gerome to avoid one more punch before countering with his own, punching Nineteen straight in the face and making his nose and lip seemingly bleed though he knew that it was oil since Nineteen was completely synthetic.

As Gerome drop-kicked Nineteen back down to the ground, creating a small crater where the white android had landed, he began walking towards him, his red eyes peering down at the android, only to look down simply when Nineteen arose, grasping his wrists.

"I have you now! And I won't stop until all of your energy is completely drained!" The expression on Gerome's face remain unchanged, he could feel the energy sapping away from his body but it seemed that it was at a too slow rate to do any real damage to him.

"You forced me to do this Nineteen." Was all Gerome said as his eyes began to glow bright red and a red beam of energy came from his pupils, effectively blowing up Android Nineteen's head, leaving nothing but the rest of his body, his neck hole spewing oil and sparking with electricity.

Looking down at the hands still clenched around his wrists, Gerome pried the hands off of his wrist, letting Nineteen's body fall back onto the ground.

Looking back up at the laboratory, Gerome quickly leaped up to the ledge once more, walking towards Dr. Gero who simply smirked back at him.

"I don't know how you became so powerful after such a short period of time, or even how your injuries could have possibly healed so quickly but I told you once before you're too late. Even if Nineteen wasn't enough to deal with you, my newest creations will be more than enough." Gero smirked as he went over to the capsules, pressing the large red buttons next to each of them as the capsules slowly began to open.

Gerome narrowed his eyes, getting into a battle ready stance, only for his red eyes to widen at what he saw emerging from the capsules. As the first one opened, the android inside began stepping out with the second one right next to him.

"Satoshi, Hotaru, take care of that pest." Gero said with a smirk as the two then stared back at Gerome, whose eyes were still wide from shock. He was too late, the two were already transformed into androids...

"Of course Dr. Gero." Satoshi spoke with a smirk as he started walking over to Gerome to make the first move. The bio-android kept up his defensive stance before trying to block when Satoshi sent a powerful punch his way, only jumping back and trying to dodge the flurry of speedy punches and kicks the android boy was sending his way.

"Satoshi, you don't have to listen to him. He doesn't own you." Gerome tried to reason with the blue-eyed boy, only stopping and jumping to avoid a powerful roundhouse kick Hotaru was sending his way from behind.

"Face it Gerome, you've lost. Your little friends are now my weapons, they do as I say, all they know is my bidding." Dr. Gero smirked as the two androids simply smirked back at Gerome, each holding out their hands and powering up a pair of energy blasts in their palms directed at the bio-android.

He could tell he was outmatched, there was no way he could bring himself to fight those two, without having any other alternatives, Gerome jumped off the ledge of the mountain, rushing into the forest. Making a tactical retreat as Satoshi and Hotaru simply watched after him.

"Shall we go after him?" Hotaru asked as Gero simply looked back at his computer.

"No, let him go. He knows what will happen if he tries to interfere once again, for now, we'll focus on the plan at hand. With Nineteen out of commission, you two will have to pick up the slack." Gero looked back at the two, who were simply looking up at the night sky with small nods.

"Of course, Dr. Gero."

* * *

"There has to be something I can do for them, I can't let Gero control them like this...But what can I do?" Gerome slowed down to a walk and leaned on a nearby tree, only looking up at the many treetops of the forest he had run into.

His fist clenched at his side, only taking a small look around at the empty forest around him. "There has to be something I can do for them. This is my fault... I can't let them suffer for it."

He couldn't do anything right now, Gero was giving them orders and no doubt he was going to use them to complete his vendetta against Son Goku.

He hated that he had just let this happen! That the only people to have ever shown him kindness were now heartless machines hell-bent on killing and destruction!

He couldn't let this go on, but what could he do? Letting out a small sigh, Gerome continued walking even deeper into the forest, deciding to wait out the situation a little more just to see what Gerome had planned for them before making his next move.

As he walked, he only took a small glance back over his shoulder, at the large mountain that peeked over the tops of the trees.

"I'll be back for you two... Just don't give up yet."

* * *

"HAAAA!" Tsukimi yelled as she rushed towards Trunks with a punch, only for the taller teen to catch her punch in his hand, stopping it as Tsukimi then jumped back and tried to give Trunks a roundhouse kick to the side that he countered with his arm, jumping back a couple of inches.

"I have to admit, you've got some skills. You're obviously no beginner." The lavender-haired teen said with a small smirk, getting into a defensive stance.

"Of course I'm not, I was trained by the best, I'm just glad that now these skills will be used to help innocent people." Tsukimi said with a smirk as she then rushed at Trunks once more, attacking him with a flurry of punches.

"Okay where the hell does she get her energy from? I mean she's been going at it for two hours now!" Kasumi sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead as Mamoru handed her a bottle of water.

"I have no idea, but she's had more training than we have, maybe she's used to this kind of training already." Mamoru said before sitting down on a large boulder, panting lightly from the sparring match that he and Yuuki just had.

"Oh man I'm exhausted, how can Tsukimi still have all that energy?" Yuuki panted lightly, sitting down on the ground and trying to catch his breath, he wasn't used to training like this, he wasn't even used to fighting but knew that he still had to get used to this, and after seeing how much Tsukimi was ahead of him in terms of stamina, knew that he had to train harder.

He watched as Tsukimi tried her hardest to hit Trunks, while at the same time, could see a spark in her eyes that he had never seen before, the smile on her face as she threw her punches and kicks, he could tell that she was happy... Incredibly happy but he couldn't understand why.

Was it because she had a worthy opponent?

...Or was it because of Trunks?

"For some reason, I do not feel that I've gotten much stronger." Kimiko sighed as she brushed herself off.

"You just need some more practice Kimiko, don't worry about it, besides we got your back." Kasumi patted the short-haired girl's back with a grin.

"Practice will do us some good, but I have to admit, I am apprehensive about going up against these androids." Akihiko spoke, sitting on the ground and was seemingly deep in thought.

Despite their training, there were still many questions that weighed heavily on his mind; if this was indeed the past? Then what happened in his time line? Did the Dragon Balls exist? Why were they led to believe they were fictional? And why are they living on a planet inhabited only by humans? What happened to the saiyan race? Or the Namekians? Or the Majin race?

None of this made sense to him, Akihiko wanted answers but also had that creeping feeling that it would be better to let sleeping dogs lie; to leave things they way they are for the moment at least.

"I know what you mean, if Trunks can't deal with them on his own, then that alone should be a good indicator of how powerful they are. All I know is that I can't die here, I have my mom and my little sister waiting at home for me. They count on me too much for me to die." Mamoru said before getting smacked upside the head by Kasumi.

"Hey! The hell was that for?!" The long-haired boy hissed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh relax, you're not gonna die, the androids will probably think you're just a walking hairball like your mom does. We're gonna be fine, with Trunks training us like this, we'll kick android ass, bring Satoshi and Hotaru home, and be complete bad-asses from now on!" Kasumi said in a confident tone in her voice, making the rest of her friends smile slightly.

"I suppose you are right, the training is good for us, and who knows? We could need to use these skills that Trunks is teaching us back home at some point." Akihiko said as he got up, brushing himself off.

"Right, I will just have to try harder then." Kimiko smiled as she picked herself up as well and looked back at Tsukimi and Trunks' match, seeing that the two were caught in an arm lock.

"You're pretty good." Trunks said with a small smirk only meeting with the same smirk as Tsukimi tried to put more force behind her attack, keeping the two at a stalemate.

"So are you, but just wait, when I get to super saiyan, you won't have to hold back on me." She could tell that he was holding back, she could tell that he could turn into a super saiyan and defeat her at any time, but he chose not to since this was still a simple sparring match.

"Don't worry, with the kind of strength you have, it won't take long for you to get the hang of turning into a super saiyan." Trunks said before breaking their arm lock and jumping back, taking a small breath as Tsukimi panted slightly.

"I think we should take a break, you can't tire yourself out too much." He said, wiping some of the sweat from his brow.

"Right, I haven't had a sparring match like that in a long time, not since my father used to spar with me." Tsukimi smiled softly as she picked up a towel and began wiping the sweat off of her face.

Those were the fond memories that she would keep in her heart, even now, the memories of her time with her late father helped her out through the hard times, and now, she knew that his teachings were not only going to help her, but help save many people from dying.

"Alright, once you all have rested up a bit, we can keep going with our training. I want to finish this as quickly as possible so you all will be able to defend yourselves against the androids." Trunks said as he began walking back into his house, only looking at his mother that was typing on her computer. "Anything on their friends yet?"

"Actually yes, their life signatures reappeared on the monitor just a couple of hours ago, I think Akihiko might have been right about it being a technical problem. But I'm working on fixing that, I took the Hero Licenses the kids all had and I'm modifying them, with these, they should be able to control where in time they will end up in instead of it being at random." Bulma explained as she continued typing on her computer, with the six reflective orange cards sitting on her desk and were all hooked up to her computer with USB cables.

"That will make things a lot easier, at least with more control over where they land, we won't have a situation like this happening again. But that's good news, the kids will be happy to know that their friends are actually alive." Trunks smiled slightly, only to look over his shoulder as he heard the radio going off.

"It's mass chaos here folks! The androids have begun their attack in North City! Residents are being told to evacuate as quickly as possible! Oh the destruction! It's like there is a destructive display of fireworks in the center of the city!"

"Trunks.." Bulma trailed off only to watch as her son grabbed his jacket, throwing it on and picked up his sword that he had left in the corner of the room, putting it on his back before starting to run out. "I'll be back!"

"Hey! What's wrong? The androids again?" Yuuki asked as he saw Trunks run past them. "Yes, they're attacking North city, I want you all to stay here, you're not ready to stand up to the androids yet."

"Yes we are! Even though we haven't been training for long, we want to help you Trunks! That's what we came here for! Just give us a chance!" Tsukimi insisted, taking a couple of steps towards Trunks with a determined expression on her face.

Trunks took a look back at the girl, only watching as the rest of her friends went up behind her one by one. "She's right! We came here to see some action!" Kasumi added, placing her hand on Tsukimi's shoulder.

Breathing out a defeated sigh, Trunks could see a little bit of himself in each of the kids, remembering all of the times he wanted to accompany Gohan when he went to fight against the androids... Even the one time he wished he had gone instead of listen to his mentor.

Letting out a sigh, he knew he couldn't expect these kids to stay behind while he fought the androids but he wasn't going to just bring them along to be spectators either.

"Fine, but you all do exactly what I say and try to stay away from the androids." He said before starting to fly off, and with an excited smile, Tsukimi eagerly flew after him with the rest of her friends following suit.

"Wait up Tsukimi!" Yuuki called as he began flying after the bow-wearing girl, as he looked ahead, up at the blue sky that was hanging over his head, he could hardly believe that in just as little as a day, he had already learned to fly, he could hardly believe that this was real and happening!

"I'm actually flying! I'm actually learning to fight like Goku! This is so incredible! I can't believe this is all real!" But when Yuuki looked down at the destruction below him, he could see that the androids had left their mark on the world.

Homes were destroyed, people were being killed, the human race was reduced to a mere trickle since the creation of these killing machines.

His eyes hardened and his jaw clenched slightly, if there was one thing Yuuki had always hated seeing, it was senseless destruction and war, he could never understand why humans had to fight among themselves when there were much more important matters to attend to.

The androids were the best example he could think of, but he knew that with the monstrous strength the androids possessed, even if all of the remaining human race were all to band together against them, it would do no good and they would all be killed.

"This is my chance, to finally make a difference, to finally be the one doing the protecting instead of the one being protected." Yuuki was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a large explosion going off ahead of him.

"There they are! In that amusement park!" Tsukimi called, Trunks found this to be a strange twist of fate, an amusement park attack was the place where his mentor had lost an arm trying to protect him from the androids.

"I'll take care of the androids, you all help get the people to safety, make that your number one priority!" Trunks spoke in a commanding tone before flying down towards the androids, leaving the kids in the skies for a moment.

"Come on! We have to get going!" Tsukimi was the first to fly down, rushing towards a crowd of people that were trying to rush out of the amusement park before they could be attacked.

"Man, this is crazy, I can't believe how strong they were." Mamoru said, thinking aloud as he began helping his friends get the people to safety, managing to lift an overturned vehicle to make a passageway for a couple that had almost been crushed by the offending vehicle.

"Do you think Trunks will be alright on his own?" Yuuki asked as he helped guide the panicked escape from the park through a path Akihiko and Kimiko were fashioning by moving overturned vehicles and demolished pieces of buildings.

"He'll be fine, but right now, we have to help these people. We can't let anyone die." Kasumi said with a determined expression, only stopping for a moment to look over her shoulder at the fight going on between Trunks and the androids.

It was two on one, Trunks was trying to hold off the androids the best that he could but together, the androids were still shown to be more powerful than he was, almost tauntingly so, they seemed to be toying with him, enjoying his attempts at defeating them and finding it amusing.

As Trunks tried using one of his Burning attack blasts on the androids, they smirked slyly, easily dodging the blast with Android 17 kicking Trunks in the back as he appeared behind him with lightning-quick speed, kicking him towards his sister who simply punched Trunks in the face hard enough to force the teen to the ground.

"You just never learn, do you Blondie?" Android 17 smirked, holding his hand out in front of Trunks as he began charging a blue power blitz attack only to blink when he saw Trunks quickly get up, charging at 17 with his sword, trying to cut him but only managed to cut the boy's hair slightly.

No matter how hard or how swift Trunks' movements were, he was still no match for the android's speed and was harshly kicked in the stomach, knocking the wind out of the boy as the raven-haired android grasped the end of Trunks' sword, and with a swift move, forced the hilt of the sword towards Trunks chest, earning a pained cry from the teen as he coughed and struggled to re-inflate his lungs, letting his sword fall to the ground next to him while on his knees.

"He really is pitiful isn't he? Try and try he just never learns. He must be a glutton for punishment." 18 said with a small smirk of her own as she walked over to Trunks, his hair now returned to its normal lavender color, his super saiyan form coming undone.

"Look, his hair changed colors again. Doesn't matter anyway, he already ruined our fun here. All the humans are gone." 17 sighed, taking a look around the area, all of the screaming had stopped, not a single person was left in the amusement park.

"Are you sure we didn't just kill them all?" 18 asked before glancing down at Trunks, hearing a weak chuckle escape his throat.

"You didn't kill them... They've escaped. You failed this time you monsters." Trunks glanced up at the two with a smirk before being kicked in the chin by 18 as he continued to try catching his breath from the harsh kick.

"You never learn do you?" As 18 was charging energy in the palm of her open hand she suddenly turned her head when she saw Tsukimi rush onto the scene, fury and rage showing on her features, the girl's fists clenched tightly at her sides.

"Get away from him..." She hissed through her teeth with energy beginning to flare around her.

"Looks like we missed one, you wanna take care of her 18?" 17 asked as Trunks started picking himself up. "Tsukimi! Get out of here! You're no match for them!" He yelled, only for 18 to smirk and turn her attention towards Tsukimi, directing the energy blast at her.

"One more kid isn't going to make any difference." 18 said, firing the attack, only for Tsukimi to jump up, dodging the attack and growled as she picked up a large piece of the road she was standing on in her hands. "I SAID TO GET THE HELL AWAY FROM TRUNKS!" She screamed as she threw the chunk of pavement, her rage completely taking over her senses.

"I'm not gonna repeat myself." She hissed, cracking her knuckles and tightening her bow, preparing to enter the battle.

"This is it, this is where all of those years of training will pay off! I might not be able to defeat them but I'm not gonna stand there and watch Trunks get his ass kicked!" She glanced at Trunks who was now in the sky and took the signal to fly into the sky as well, seeing that the androids had easily blown up the pavement that was thrown at them, 18 brushing some of her hair from her eyes.

"Looks like this got a little more fun." She said with a smirk, her ice blue eyes locking with Tsukimi, who was glaring back at the blonde girl, and stood next to Trunks, ready to fight.


	8. Chapter 7

"Tsukimi!" Yuuki called, looking up when he spotted the bow-wearing girl in the sky with Trunks, mentally cursing himself out for not being able to stop her from interfering with Trunks' battle and was now in the middle of it.

"Is she fucking nuts?! Those androids are gonna kill her! She can't even turn into a super saiyan!" Kasumi exclaimed, looking up at the two before seeing Trunks scolding

Tsukimi but they were too high up for them to be able to hear anything.

The scolding was cut short when Android 17 launched the first attack, firing an energy attack at the two, making them quickly dodge and beginning their battle.

"We can't just let her kill herself!" Yuuki said and was going to fly into the battle before feeling his wrist being grabbed by Akihiko.

"I know this is distressing, but we have to think rationally about this, if we go in at the wrong time, we may be sealing their fates."

"But what are we supposed to do?! I can't just stand here while knowing Tsukimi may be getting hurt or worse!" Yuuki yelled back as he snatched his hand back from Akihiko, that was the one thing he just couldn't allow. He cared about Tsukimi far too much to let her go off and do something dangerous, even at this very moment he was kicking himself mentally for letting her get into this situation in the first place.

"This was Tsukimi's own choice. She felt the same way you are feeling now. She hated standing by and watching as Trunks was being kicked around by the androids, and could not stop herself from interfering. But you are right, at her current level she will just get in Trunks' way so we need to find a way to convince her to back down." Akihiko said, sighing a little bit, sometimes he wondered how he managed to become friends with such emotionally-driven people.

"Well we better think fast because she isn't gonna last too long against those two, even with Trunks by her side, they're not even damaging those two." Kasumi said, looking up at the battle that was taking place, Tsukimi had just been harshly kicked by Android 18 and drop kicked into a nearby building while Trunks was locked in a power struggle with Android 17, the two had their arms locked, neither giving an inch.

"This is our chance! Come on!" Yuuki called as he began rushing towards the building that Tsukimi had just slammed into, the rest of his friends quickly following suit behind him.

"Please be alright, please be alright!" Those were the only thoughts going through his mind at the moment, he had no idea if he could live with himself if anything were to happen to Tsukimi.

The bow-wearing girl groaned slightly, rubbing her head as she emerged from the building, rubbing her head and hissing lightly. "Damn them!"

"Tsukimi!" She looked to the side, blinking a couple of times in surprise when she saw her friends rushing over to her. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came here to stop you from getting yourself killed, Girl!" Kasumi yelled as she ran over.

"You're not strong enough to defeat those two! You have to back down!" Kimiko spoke in an urgent tone, like the rest of them, she thought of Tsukimi as nothing more than a dear friend and like the others, she wanted to protect her and stop her from doing something that would end up with her dead.

"You don't get it! I have to fight! I didn't come here to watch from the sidelines! I didn't come here to just watch Trunks get his ass kicked by those two when I can try doing something to stop them!" Tsukimi yelled back and was about to fly off when Yuuki suddenly grabbed her hand.

"You can't go! I'm not going to let you!" He said firmly, he could understand how she felt, and that was the reason behind his actions, he wasn't going to stand by and watch her do something that could get her killed!

"Let go of me Yuuki! I'm going to fight and you're not going to stop me!" Tsukimi growled, trying to pry her hand away from Yuuki. She was determined to at least try to defeat the androids, she was sure this is what her father would have wanted her to do, try to fight instead of standing around and wait for the outcome.

"Tsukimi, at your current power level, all you will be doing is slowing Trunks down, hurting him more than helping him." Akihiko spoke, and in that moment, Tsukimi's eyes widened.

She knew in her heart that Akihiko was right, she couldn't even turn into a super saiyan and yet here she was, about to charge into a fight she knew that she couldn't win and all because her personal feelings clouded her judgment on the situation.

"We understand how you feel, but there is a difference between wanting to do the right thing, and choosing what the right thing actually is. For now, we need to retreat, let Trunks deal with the androids and escape before we cause further harm to him for our presences here." Akihiko spoke in a calm manner, looking straight into Tsukimi's eyes.

Tsukimi slowly let herself descent back onto the ground, calming herself down, only for Yuuki to look at her with a concerned expression. "Tsukimi?"

"You're right. Come on, let's go before those androids decide to try taking us down with Trunks." Was all Tsukimi said before beginning to ascend into the sky, and in a matter of seconds, was flying away from the scene.

"Akihiko! You were too hard on her!" Yuuki said as Akihiko simply began to fly

upwards with the rest of the group following suit. "She needed to hear this, it may sting now, but she needs to learn to better control her emotions."

"I hope Trunks can get out of this on his own." Mamoru said, looking over his shoulder as he began flying away with the rest of the group, following after Tsukimi and only seeing explosions of energy as the remains of the amusement park began getting further and further away from his field of vision.

"He will be fine, we have done what he asked of us, now we need to escape before the androids notice our presence." Akihiko said as he continued to fly. Yuuki on the other hand, was looking ahead at Tsukimi, he could see how tightly her fists were clenched at her sides. She was furious, but she was upset at herself.

Tsukimi just continued to look down at the destruction below her, she knew people were losing their lives, Trunks was getting beaten by the androids back there and she couldn't do a single thing about it at her current level.

If there was one thing she always hated, it was feeling powerless and weak. Her fists clenched at her sides, her eyes hidden under her bangs. She could feel a familiar pain begin to stab into her chest, causing her to bite into her lip slightly.

This wasn't the first time she's felt like this, not the first time she's felt powerless and weak. Akihiko's words just continued to echo in her mind, as much as she hated to admit it, he was right.

"Tsukimi, at your current power level, all you will be doing is slowing Trunks down, hurting him more than helping him."

Those words continued to taunt her, reminding her of what she already knew, she came to

this place to train, to become stronger, to become someone her father would be proud of from the afterlife, but all the training in the world wasn't going to change what she thought was her inevitable fate;

Watching helplessly as those she cares for die. Being powerless to help them. Only begging to God to make the horrors occurring in front of her stop.

Her fists clenched even harder, her fingernails beginning to stab into her palms. She wanted to help Trunks, but knew that all she would do is cause him more trouble.

"Looks like we made it back in one piece, I hope Trunks is that lucky." Kasumi sighed as she landed in front of the capsule corp building with the others following suit.

Tsukimi just began walking inside the house, not saying a single word.

Yuuki looked after her with a concerned look, he could tell that she was angry at herself, and frankly, he couldn't blame her. There were countless times when he was angry at himself for being weak, but he never thought that he would live to see the day when he would see Tsukimi going through that kind of emotional turmoil.

Letting out a sigh, Yuuki decided that right now, it would be the best to let Tsukimi sort out her own emotions, he wouldn't be any help to her right now anyway, and Akihiko was right- though he could have been more gentle with what he had said- he was still right.

He didn't have perfect control over his emotions, he doubted that anyone other than him actually possessed that kind of self-control and skill.

He took a sparing glance at his normally calm friend, but even through his calm and cool facade, Yuuki could tell that he was worried. And of course he was, his cousin was missing.

And could very well be dead. Anyone would be worried if they were in Akihiko's shoes, he just watched as the blue-clad boy walked over to the window, placing his hand on the windowsill.

"Hey, don't worry Akihiko. We're gonna find Satoshi and everything's going to be fine." Yuuki placed his hand on Akihiko's shoulder, giving the boy a comforting smile.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Akihiko's face, only nodding slightly in reply. "Of course, I should not worry. This training will all pay off in the long run, I only hope Satoshi and Hotaru are still safe."

"Don't worry, I'm sure they're just fine. You heard Bulma, she said that it was just a technical glitch that made them look like they were dead on the computer and she fixed it." Yuuki offered, still wearing that same smile.

There were times when he knew his friends needed him for support, even if they didn't express it verbally, he considered himself to be pretty good at reading body language.

But even if he could help Akihiko, he had no idea if he could help Tsukimi after what had just happened and was mentally debating going over to her to try comforting her.

"I can see that you are concerned about Tsukimi. She will be fine Yuuki, better she learns this lesson now than when lives are on the line." Akihiko spoke up, almost as if he could read the boy's mind.

"I guess you're right but still, I don't like it when she's upset like this." Yuuki said with a small sigh as he looked out the window and smiled when he saw Trunks flying over.

He had a few injuries here and there but he was still alive and that was the important thing.

"Trunks! You made it back in one piece!" Mamoru said as the lavender-haired teen walked into the house, of course he was injured but he was still able to walk and stand, that in itself, was a big improvement from his past encounters with the androids.

"It was actually thanks to Tsukimi that I was able to make it out." Trunks said as said girl walked back into the room with a bottle of water in her hand. "Huh?"

"It was thanks to her interfering that I was able to escape, during that last attack Tsukimi had endured, Android 18 started looking for her, I was able to get an upper hand on 17 because of that and I managed to escape before 18 could find me." Trunks said as

Bulma walked in with a first aid kit in her hands. "Once again I see that my reckless son has come home with more war wounds than a war veteran." She sighed as she motioned Trunks to sit down at the kitchen table as she took a seat next to him.

"I really did help you?" Tsukimi asked with a faint blush staining her cheeks.

"Of course you did, you showed me that even if you can't turn into super saiyans yet, you all could be powerful enough to help me take down the androids. But first things first. I think it's time that we went into the past." Trunks said as Bulma was treating a cut he had on his arm.

"The past? Are you sure? I mean it's only been a day since we came here, don't we need more training than that?" Mamoru asked.

"Of course you do, and that's why I suggest going into the past. You all will learn a lot more from the others of the past than you could from just me. Besides, we need to make sure your friends are safe. That is the main reason you came here right?"

"Of course it is, but how do you purpose we go into the past in the first place?" Akihiko asked before seeing Bulma set the group's Hero Licenses on the table in front of them.

"That, I've taken care of. I adjusted all of your Hero Licenses so now you all can choose when in time you want to go in, past or future. With those, you can go into the past with Trunks'." She smiled at the other kids as they all began looking at the reflective cards in their hands.

"I know that this is short notice, but it's nearly been three years in the past since I last went there, we have go to tomorrow at the latest. I just hope everything goes well this time." Trunks sighed as Bulma was wrapping bandages around his forearm.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." He saw Tsukimi smile back at him, he still had some reservations about having kids from the far future aiding him but by this point, he wasn't going to be picky about what to do next.

"You're right. You all should prepare, we're leaving tomorrow morning." He said as all the kids looked at each other, nodding slightly.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Yuuki said, even though he had to admit, he was nervous about this, he wasn't sure if he was going to be much help to the others or even if he was going to help the situation or just make things worse.

He was contemplating telling the others to just find Satoshi and Hotaru before leaving but then he thought about how that would make Trunks feel, he really needed their help, and he didn't have the right to refuse his call.

But he was still unsure of his own power, would he really be able to make a difference against these androids?

* * *

"Man! We're already going into the line of battle, well we might as well live it up now, wanna go replace Mamoru's shampoo with hair dye?" Kasumi walked into the room she, Tsukimi, and Kimiko were sharing during their stay, rubbing her messy black hair dry with a towel and wearing only a black tank top and a pair of purple shorts.

"I don't think Mamoru would enjoy that too much." Kimiko said, sitting on her bed and reading a book.

"Of course he won't, if he did it wouldn't be fun! You in Tsukimi?" The tanned girl asked with a smirk as she looked at Tsukimi, who was smiling happily and humming lightly to herself as she brushed her long black hair.

"Uh, Tsukimi? You in there?" Kasumi asked, walking over to the humming girl and poked her forehead, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Oh sorry, what did you say?"

"Alright, Girl. I know for a fact that you like someone, you have the eyes of a young maiden in love." Kasumi smirked which just made Tsukimi begin blushing lightly as she kept brushing her hair. "and what makes you say that? Is it so hard to believe I'm just in a good mood?"

"You do seem to be in exceptionally good spirits, Tsukimi." Kimiko added, only for Kasumi to smirk as she poked her friend's cheek once more. "It's Trunks isn't it~?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tsukimi said simply as she set the brush down, her blush only getting slightly darker.

"It's totally Trunks! I saw the way you were staring at him before!" Kasumi smirked back, only for Tsukimi to avert her gaze out the window and smile slightly. "Well, maybe I like him a little bit, say anything and you're dead." She gave a warning glance to Kasumi who just continued to smirk as she lay sprawled out on her bed.

"Oh don't worry, your secret's safe with me. So what're you planning to do?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on Girl! Don't tell me that you're just planning to watch him with love-struck eyes from afar the whole time are you? You have to make a move! A guy like Trunks isn't gonna make the first move, you have to be the one who makes the first move." Kasumi said, sitting up in her bed, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh come on, right now isn't even the best time to worry about my love life. We have to worry more about if our friends are alive or not." Tsukimi said, trying to hide the obvious blush that was staining her cheeks.

"She does have a point Kasumi, we need to focus on Satoshi and Hotaru right now." Kimiko added, only for Kasumi to groan and toss a pillow at Tsukimi. "God you two are boring! The first little bit of romance that comes our way and you guys just wanna shut the door and hide in the closet like it's Freddy Kruger at the door!"

"Well excuse our lives for not being filled with endless dating and one night stands like you want them to be." Tsukimi said, tossing the pillow back before starting to get into her bed. "Besides, our friends are more important than my feelings for Trunks and nothing's gonna change that."

"Sounds like someone's finally admitted she has a crush~" Kasumi said in a song-song tone of voice, wearing that same cat-like smirk on her face once more.

"When you finally get a boyfriend or if I find out you like anyone Kasumi, I'm gonna give you so much crap for it." Tsukimi sighed as she laid down on her bed.

"Please girl, when I finally land me a man, I'll be proud to display that little piece of arm candy to you girls." The tanned girl smirked back as she laid down on her bed.

"I think I'm going to get a drink, I'll be right back." Kimiko said as she got up from her bed, putting on her white slippers and walking out of the room.

She wished that she could be as carefree as her friends seemed to be, all she could think about was if Satoshi and Hotaru were alive or not and how much their disappearances have affected Akihiko.

As she walked down the hallway, towards the kitchen, she took a small glance out a nearby window, seeing that Trunks was still training, even this late at night. He was working on his swordsmanship, slicing down whatever came his way be it a tree branch or a large boulder.

The short-haired girl just continued to watch him for a moment, sensing the strength that just seemed to pour out of him, his movements strong and confident, everything she seemed to lack.

Glancing down at her hands, Kimiko began to wonder if she really had made the right choice, she knew she wasn't as strong as the others were, in terms of strength she could easily be considered the weakest.

And there were times when she wished that she could be stronger, to be the one protecting her friends instead of the one being protected but that seemed to be too farfetched a dream to ever come true.

After a few moments, she began her walk down the hallway once more, finding herself in the kitchen, but once she arrived, she spotted Akihiko, sitting at the counter with a mug in his hands, seemingly glowering down at the warm tea he had brewed for himself inside the mug.

"Akihiko?" Kimiko's soft voice was enough to snap the boy out of his thoughts, only glancing up at the girl and began straightening himself up.

"I thought you would have been sleeping by now."

"I came down here for a drink... Are you alright?"Kimiko had taken a seat next to the raven-haired boy, she could tell that he was concerned about his cousin, and had good reason too. She had the feeling that this whole ordeal was already beginning to take its toll on him.

"Yes, I was just contemplating today's events in my mind."

"You're worried about Satoshi and Hotaru, aren't you?" Akihiko just nodded softly at her question, he couldn't help but be worried about Satoshi, he was his cousin, more like a brother to him and he just didn't know what he would do if anything were to happen to him.

"It's alright. Don't worry Akihiko, I'm positive that Satoshi and Hotaru are safe and tomorrow, my suspicions will be confirmed. We will see them again and your mind can rest easy. Just try to get some sleep." Kimiko gave Akihiko a soft smile but a genuine one. Though she was struggling with her own insecurities and doubts, she knew that it was far more important for her to comfort Akihiko and help with his own problems than lament over her own.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Akihiko's face as he got up from his seat. "Thank you Kimiko, we should get some sleep for tomorrow."

"You're right." Kimiko smiled softly as she started to follow him back towards her room, and in that moment, those doubts and fears that had been gnawing at her mind and confidence were gone.

Just being with Akihiko had that effect on her, he had the uncanny ability to make her forget her own troubles and focus on the troubles of others, but that could only last for so long.

Even now she was beginning to remember the familiar sting of her own insecurities stab into the back of her mind but was doing her best to ignore the pain.

At least for now.


	9. Chapter 8

A week had passed, Trunks was standing in front of his time machine, making sure that the coordinates were right. After the incident yesterday, he decided that today was going to be the day when he would take the others into the past.

Truth be told, he had his reservations about bringing the kids with him so soon, but he had taught them as much as he could within the span of a couple of days, but he knew that with the androids running around and causing havoc in his time line that they were in danger of losing their lives even before he could try helping another time line escape the horrors of these machines.

Narrowing his blue eyes slightly, the image of that green monster, Cell, had once again entered his mind. He had stolen one of his time machines but he didn't know what time line he had gone into or even if they would ever end up meeting again but he wanted some form of vengeance.

Using a machine his own mother had created for him- with the sole purpose of helping free a time line from the horrors of the androids- was being used by one of the same monsters it was created in order to prevent entering into existence.

The very thought of that made Trunks' blood boil. He hated the idea of the androids actually using his own mother's machine for its own evil plans. That was something that he couldn't forgive or let go so easily.

"Heading out again?" He was only snapped out of his thoughts when he saw his mother walking over. The tone in her voice told him that she was worried about his upcoming trip back into the past and she had every reason to be worried.

He could lose his life, the fate of his future and the future for the rest of the little living humans in his time line rested in his hands.

"Yeah, are the others ready?" He asked, closing the hatch to the time machine and jumped down, in front of Bulma.

"They're getting ready. I figured that they wouldn't want to fight in school uniforms or normal clothes so I went ahead and made some fighting gi for them to wear. They should be coming out any minute." She said with a small smile. "You know, I don't know why but I just have this feeling that everything is going to work out just fine. Those kids have gotten pretty strong in such a short amount of time."

"They really have. I just hope the training I've given them is enough. I didn't have a lot of time to work with." Trunks sighed, only to open his eyes when he saw Bulma place her hand on his shoulder and gave him a confident smile.

"Don't worry Trunks, things are going to work out fine." She smiled, and that smile was genuine in his eyes, he could tell that his mother really did have the utmost confidence in this plan, and he was going to try his best to make sure that it succeeded like she wanted it to.

* * *

"Man, I didn't think that Bulma was a tailor too, these outfits are pretty awesome, she even knew my favorite color." Yuuki was looking at himself in a mirror in the boy's room. Bulma had given him, Akihiko, and Mamoru a set of clothes to change into, saying that they would need the new outfits to be easier to fight in than their old clothes.

He was now wearing a red fighting gi with a pale yellow long sleeved undershirt and a pair of boots. "These outfits are pretty comfortable too, I actually look pretty cool in this." He chuckled as he looked at his reflection.

"You can say that again! It's gonna be easy to kick some android ass in this!" Mamoru grinned, coming out wearing a pair of yellow trousers, purple and black boots, his black gi shirt seemed to be tied around his waist with his purple belt, leaving him shirtless sans for the gold rings around his forearms and purple wrist bands.

"...Mamoru? Why are you shirtless?" Yuuki asked with a confused expression on his face. Only earning a confident chuckle from the long-haired boy. "If you got it dude, flaunt it! And God knows that I got it!" He said in a smug tone, only earning a exasperated sigh from Yuuki.

"Yeah... Whatever you say dude. Hey Akihiko how does your outfit look?" Yuuki asked only to see the raven-haired boy walk out of the room, wearing an outfit reminiscent of a blue Chinese changshan coupled with a pair of dark gray trousers like Yuuki's and Mamoru's and a matching long-sleeved undershirt.

"My outfit seems to fit well, makes me wonder when Bulma had gotten my measurements." Akihiko said, looking around himself slightly.

"I'm not really worried about that, I look fine as hell in this! Maybe I should start going around shirtless more often." Mamoru said with a small smirk as he looked at himself in a mirror with Yuuki and Akihiko only giving him disapproving glances.

"You know... I'm actually kind of nervous about this. I mean, I'm looking forward to seeing Satoshi and Hotaru again but I don't know if I'm gonna be much help in any actual fights." Yuuki admitted, glancing down at his hands. During their training he couldn't help but feel overshadowed by the others, he seemed to be the weakest in terms of strength.

"Yuuki, you are my friend. To be perfectly honest, I was overjoyed when you and the others had agreed to help me locate Satoshi. You know the nature of our relationship... I do not know what I would do without Satoshi in my life. And just the fact that you had agreed to come here with me makes me believe that you are a stronger person than you are giving yourself credit for. The battles we will face may be trying but I am confident that we will all emerge with our lives intact." Akihiko placed a hand on Yuuki's shoulder and Yuuki could barely make out the ghost of a smile that had appeared on his stoic friend's face.

"Thanks Akihiko, I hope so. I mean Mamoru's pretty strong but I expected that from him, and you're a tactical genius. All I can do is coward away from stuff." Yuuki chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"As I said before, you have your own reserves of strength. You just have to learn to unleash them when you need them the most." Akihiko spoke as he began walking out of the room. "We should get going. Knowing Trunks, he is ready for our departure."

"Well that depends if the girls are ready to go yet. You know how they can be. Girls take forever to get ready for anything!" Mamoru said as he started following his friends. Living with his mother, he knew that from personal experience.

Yuuki just tried to think about what Akihiko had told him, but that small part of his mind that held all of his doubts seemed to be growing recently, making him more unsure of his own abilities.

But he had to put them aside for the moment, his friends needed him to be strong and that's what he was going to try his best to do.

* * *

As Tsukimi looked at herself in the mirror, she was applying concealer under her darkened eyelids. She couldn't understand why, but nightmares had begun robbing her of her sleep since she arrived in the past.

But she had no time to let the others worry about her sleeping patterns, and she had learned to use her energy conservatively so she could last a while longer without sleep.

She was already dressed in her new fighting outfit, it was the same color scheme as Yuuki's, a red fighting gi with a shorter-sleeved yellow undershirt.

_"This is your chance Tsukimi. You have to show Trunks how strong you really are. You're not some weak little girl that needs saving, you're someone he can stand hand in hand with as equals."_ As that last thought went through her mind, she found a blush spreading over her cheeks at the mere mention of holding hands with Trunks.

"Okay I look hot as hell int his outfit! Damn Bulma knows how to make a hot outfit!" Kasumi had walked into the room, making Tsukimi quickly hide the concealer she was using. "Yeah that outfit really suits you Kasumi." She said with a small smile.

The tanned girl was wearing a sleeveless short body suit that cut off at her mid-thighs, a battle armor vest that normal saiyans could be seen wearing, a single thigh-high yellow sock on her right leg and black boots.

"Damn right! Hmm, that jerk in class was right, I do have a nice ass. Yo Kimiko! Come out already so we can see how cute you look!" Kasumi called to the shyer girl, giving Tsukimi a passing glance.

"So you sure you're up for this? You're gonna be fighting people more experienced than a bunch of kids in your class you know." Tsukimi simply tightened the red ribbon in her hair as she got up from her seat.

"Of course I am, Trunks needs our help and we're in no position to turn him down. Besides, this is for Satoshi and Hotaru too." She said as she saw Kimiko come out of the bathroom, wearing a blue dress reminiscent of a cheongsam, a long sleeved black undershirt, black shorts, a yellow belt and a pair of white and yellow saiyan boots.

"You both don't think this is a little too immodest do you?" Kimiko asked with a visible blush as she looked around herself.

"Girl, there is nothing immodest about that outfit, you look adorable! Besides, it's nice seeing you show a little leg sometimes, bet the boys are gonna love seeing that." Kasumi said with a cat-like smirk, only making the short-haired girl blush even more.

"Kasumi, quit teasing her. You look fine Kimiko, besides, what matters most is that these outfits will help us fight better, now they look doesn't matter. Come on, we should get going. I know that Trunks is probably ready to go by now." Tsukimi got up from her seat and started walking out of the room, both Kasumi and Kimiko looking after her for a moment before starting to follow her.

"Boo~! Man Tsukimi you sure are a buzz-kill sometimes." Kasumi sighed, putting her hands behind her head as she followed Tsukimi down the hallway.

"Well excuse me for taking this seriously. This isn't some video game you know, this is really life or death. Our friends need us and we don't need to be wasting time worrying about how our outfits look." Tsukimi said in a matter-of-fact tone as she continued to walk.

That made both girls swallow any retort that they had in their throats, they both knew that this was dangerous- insane even- to attempt to destroy powerful killing machines, being in the past, actually being part saiyan, all of it was just a lot to take in, and even though only a week had passed they still didn't feel as though they could completely accept the truth yet.

And then there was the fact that they were still unsure of their own powers and ability, Kimiko in particular just continued to glance down at her hands, she wasn't the most powerful of the group, she could easily be considered the weak link in the group and often questioned in her mind if she made the right choice to follow her friends on this dangerous adventure.

"Seriously? Do you really have to walk around shirtless? It's just weirding me out." Yuuki was walking down the same hallway with Mamoru and Akihiko by his sides.

"Jealous? I can understand, not everyone can have an awesome body like me." Mamoru said with the same smug tone as he kept walking before being smacked upside the head by Kasumi.

"Hey! The hell was that for Kasumi?!"

"For nearly making me lose my breakfast that's why! No one wants to see you walk around without a shirt on!" Kasumi said simply as she kept walking. "Now if someone like Trunks were walking around shirtless I wouldn't say anything, I'd be drooling too much~"

"Please, Trunks isn't even in your league Kasumi." Mamoru said with a small smirk, only earning another backhand to the back of his head.

"I am the demon queen, I can have any man I want. But right now Trunks is just eye candy." She smirked, giving a passing glance to Tsukimi who began blushing slightly and continued to walk.

"Whatever, it'd be nice if you didn't smack me like I'm your personal punching bag though." Mamoru grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

"But that's what you are." Kasumi smirked back at the long-haired boy, only making Mamoru breath out a defeated sigh, arguing with her was impossible and took too much effort.

"There you guys are, do you like the new outfits I made for you?" Bulma was in the kitchen, smiling at the group as they walked in.

"Yeah these outfits are great! They're really comfortable, but where's Trunks?" Yuuki was the first to ask before glancing out the window at the large time machine outside.

"He's already ready to go. You guys should get out there." Bulma said, promptly beginning her walk out the door with the kids following suit. This wasn't the first time she had bid her son farewell in this kind of situation, but she was sure that he was going to return perfectly fine, just like the past two times.

"Are you all ready?" Trunks asked, standing in front of his time machine as all the kids nodded, only for Akihiko to look around the time machine with an inspecting glint in his eye.

"Hey, your time machine's only big enough for one person, how are we supposed to go anywhere?" Mamoru was the first to ask that question, only for Kasumi to sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose. "I swear, that hair had to have swallowed your brain, do the hero licenses ring any bells?"

"She's right. I've adjusted your hero licenses to take you all back into the exact same time period Trunks is going into. All you have to do is use this machine and you'll be there in no time." Bulma said in a proud tone, pointing to one of the arcade games that was sitting next to the wall of her home.

"I should warn you all now, this isn't going to be an easy fight. If any of you want to back out now, I wouldn't blame you. You can go back to your normal lives and pretend none of this ever happened." Trunks said, looking at all of the kids who all glanced at the reflective orange cards in their hands.

Kimiko just looked at the card's reflective surface, she knew that she wasn't the strongest. And her greatest fear would be that she would just end up bringing the rest of her friends down and hold them back from their full potential. She was never a fighter, she was a pacifist and never liked violence.

Her ebony eyes then traveled to Akihiko who looked at his card, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he were glaring at it. While at the same time had this determined expression on his face, and that was all Kimiko needed to see to nod her head and hold the card firmly in her hand.

"I'm going to stay with the rest of you." She was the first to speak up, and almost like a beacon of light, the other kids all smiled slightly and followed her example.

"So am I, I'm not gonna let you guys go off and get your asses kicked." Kasumi had a confident grin on her face.

"We're all staying, we went through with the training you gave us, it wouldn't be right if we quit now. We're ready Trunks." Tsukimi spoke up, a determine glint in her eyes that made Trunks smile slightly. He could see that same determination that Gohan once saw in him when he was their age.

Back when he begged Gohan to train him to become a powerful warrior and to help take down the androids. For the first time in his life, he could feel the pride that could only come from a proud teacher looking at his students, ready to take on a new challenge and fight for the greater good.

"That's what I wanted to hear. I'm going on ahead, I'll see the rest of you there." He said with a small smile as he jumped into the cockpit of his time machine, and in a matter of seconds, the marge machine began to float into the air and in the blink of an eye- it was gone.

"Man! Did you see that! It just vanished in thin air!" Yuuki said excitedly as he watched the spot the time machine once stood in.

"Yeah we all saw it, but we need to go ahead and follow him." Tsukimi looked at the card in her hand once more as she began walking towards the arcade machine.

"You know, I know that I just agreed to help Trunks out of nowhere but I'm really glad that you guys decided to come with me. I don't think I can do this on my own." She said with a soft smile, only for Kasumi to put her hand on her shoulder.

"Please girl! Like as if we were going to leave you alone with that fine piece of man and not get proof of any sneaky little meetings you two may have for blackmail material!" Tsukimi looked at the tanned girl with a sigh. "You just give me a headache sometimes Kasumi."

"You're our friend, Tsukimi, we wouldn't let you do something like this on your own." Yuuki said with a smile of his own as he walked over. A visible blush was staining his cheeks but Tsukimi dismissed it and smiled softly.

"Thank you guys, now. Let's go. Satoshi and Hotaru need us." Tsukimi said with a new determined tone in her voice as she put her hero license into the machine.

* * *

"Looks like we're here. This is the right place. South City." Satoshi was looking down at the large, bustling city from above. Both Hotaru and Dr. Gero were standing at his sides.

"I can already sense that Son Goku is close by. You two already know the plan; storm the city and make sure to flush him out. Then we finish them off. Understood?" The old doctor looked at the two who were simply glancing down at the city and nodded.

"Of course. Looks like someone's heading this way." Satoshi looked up, seeing a hover car heading their way only for Hotaru to look at the car, her ice blue eyes glowing for a second as two sharp red beams of light shot at the hover car, causing a small explosion and the wreckage to fall to the ocean below.

"Oh now look what you did Hotaru. Now they're gonna be looking for us." Satoshi said with a small chuckle as the brunette simply placed a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"That was the point. Let's go." She said simply, starting to head down to the city with Gero and Satoshi right behind her.

* * *

Down towards the ocean, the rest of the Z fighters had started heading into the city. Goku had tasked Gohan with saving Yajirobe whom had just been shot down. But as the young demi-saiyan was flying towards the ocean, he spotted what appeared to be a strange purple creature with piercing red eyes, wearing a tattered gray cape, holding up Yajirobe with a single arm.

"W-Woah! Who the heck are you?! Put me down! Wait a minute! Don't put me down! Just don't kill me!" The larger man was in a panic, Gohan's eyes widened as he saw the creature turn around to face him, floating over to the demi-saiyan.

"W-Who are you?" Gohan could sense his power, it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He could feel a flurry of different energy signatures coming from him in a strange mix. His own father, Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin, even himself and Frieza!

He had his guard up, ready to fight the strange new enemy if he was going to attack, but only blinked when he saw the purple creature begin floating past him, still carrying Yajirobe towards land.

"My name is Gerome..." Was all he spoke, and Gohan could tell from the tone in his voice that this creature- Gerome. Was worried about something, but he could also feel no malicious intent coming from him either.

He could tell that he didn't want to fight, and began following him, helping him hold up Yajirobe and smiled slightly at him. "My name is Gohan, it's nice to meet you."

* * *

"Man this place is smaller than the South City back home. I bet there isn't even a decent restaurant around here." Satoshi had his hands behind his head, walking down a sidewalk with Hotaru and Gero by his sides.

"We didn't come here to sight see Satoshi, we came here to find Goku and kill him." Hotaru spoke as if it wasn't a big deal, only making Satoshi give her a slightly concerned glance.

As time went on, he honestly wasn't sure if the programming that Gero had put into them was changing Hotaru or not. He still had a hold on his old personality at least. But he was getting more concerned with Hotaru as the days went on.

"I'm telling you it just blew up out of nowhere!" Looking to the left, Satoshi spotted a couple of men talking about the hover car that Hotaru had just blown up.

"You guys saw it didn't you? That car just blew up out of nowhere!" The two men just looked at the group, their eyes widening slightly, as if they could tell that they were a threat.

"Hotaru, I don't think you need to-" Satoshi tried to speak up, only watching as the brunette walked towards the two men and with a swift punch to the stomach, landed one on the ground and punched the other in the face, making him slam into a building and fall to the ground.

"Hmph, weaklings." Hotaru said with a visible glare in her eyes. Only to see Satoshi walk over. "You didn't have to do that Hotaru! They weren't a threat!"

"I'm just doing what I want to. They annoyed me so I got rid of them." Hotaru said in that same simple, uncaring tone once more, making Satoshi bit his lip slightly.

_"This is bad, that programming's messing with her mind..."_

That was the only thought going through his mind at the moment, and he couldn't help but feel that stabbing pain of guilt stabbing into his chest. This was his fault. If he hadn't convinced Hotaru to climb that mountain with him, they wouldn't have been captured by Gero and turned into killing machines like this.

And now, they were being forced to live out Gero's bidding. Even if it meant he had to take Goku's life, Satoshi was going to do it to make sure Hotaru would come home with him and they could go back to living their normal lives once more.

"An abnormally strong power source is approaching." Gero spoke up, letting go of the elderly man he had just killed, snapping Satoshi out of his thoughts as Hotaru's eyes began to glow red.

"The power source is closing in. Doctor. And it exceeds normal human ability as well." Hotaru continued to speak with less and less emotion in her voice, that fact alone was worrying Satoshi even more.

The three then ascended into the sky, watching as Yamcha had run towards the sidewalk and began looking around at the destruction they had just caused.

"Looks like Yamcha to me. I didn't think that Goku would be the first to rush here anyway." Satoshi said, actually a little relieved that it wasn't Goku right off the bat.

He really didn't want to have to take an innocent man's life and was dreading it in every way possible. His blue eyes trailed back to Hotaru, the concern he felt for her was only getting worse, by this point it seemed that she lacked any kind of sympathy for the lives of others anymore.

_"What have I gotten us into?"_

* * *

Gerome was still helping Gohan carry Yajirobe to shore, but upon hearing the explosion going off in South City, his red eyes darted over his shoulder, gazing at the large cloud of smoke that was filling the sky.

His red eyes then narrowed as he watched the smoke, his instincts were telling him that Satoshi and Hotaru were involved in this and wanted to know what Gero was making them do.

"W-Wait a minute! Gerome! Where are you going?" Gohan called as Gerome handed Yajirobe's other hand to the demi-saiyan,, and without saying a word, had sped off towards South city.

_"I know they're in that city. I just have to stop them before they do something they seriously regret."_ He knew that with Gero still in the picture that he couldn't fight them off on his own nor did he want to.

And he also knew that he had to help them, that they were simply being forced to do these violent actions that they didn't want to do at all.

He was the only one who could help them, the others would all just assume that they were heartless machines. But that couldn't be further from the truth for him. He could never forget the genuine smiles they had given him, the kindness that actually made him feel like he was worth the life he was bestowed instead of a simple experimental failure.

_"Satoshi... Hotaru... Please wait for me."_

* * *

"Yamcha!" Goku and the rest of the Z warriors had arrived on the scene. Yamcha was still being held by his jaw by Gero. His ebony eyes were already clouded, as if he were already dead.

Satoshi looked towards Dr. Gero, he could see that there was no signs of remorse on the old man's face, he remained completely stoic, and Hotaru was no better.

He was unsure of the kind of expression he wore on his own face, but looking down at his hands, he could see that they were trembling, a life was just taken right in front of him, and he was powerless to stop it.

"Krillin, take Yamcha. I left the bag of Senzu beans with Bulma, take him back there and make him eat one." Goku spoke through gritted teeth, his body was trembling slightly with pure rage, his eyes were narrowed into a visible glare directed at the three.

That glare made Satoshi's chest tighten slightly. The guilt was already beginning to eat away at his conscience, every one of his instincts was telling him to interfere, to try stopping this but his body remained still.

Krillin cautiously walked towards the body of his friend, only giving a cautious glance at the three to see if they would attack him while retrieving Yamcha.

The raven-haired boy could only watch as Krillin picked up Yamcha's body, giving the three a sharp glare that he could sense was filled with hatred and malice and though the glare seemed to just bounce off Gero and Hotaru, it stabbed through his heart like a knife.

He could only watch as the shorter man flew off to get his friend the help he needed.

"So these are the fearsome androids? Not quite the monsters I imagined." Piccolo was the first to break the silence that befell them after Krillin's departure.

"How strange, you have given us the identification as androids without knowing who we are." Gero replied with a more monotone tone of voice.

"Further more, you all seemed to have gathered here in anticipation of our arrival. Tell us now, who informed you of our plans?"

"If you want that answer you'll have to ask with your fist!" Piccolo shot back, shortly before the fuel trunk that was currently in flames behind the three had exploded once more, making the three get into a quick defensive stance.

"As you wish." Was all Gero said. Satoshi could just watch with uncertainty he wasn't sure if he was even strong enough to take on Goku or Piccolo, he was more confident about Tien though but he still wanted to avoid this kind of confrontation.

"Wait, there are too many innocent people here! We have to take this outside the city limits!" Of course Goku would be concerned for the welfare of the innocent people that were still in the city.

"You purpose to relocate. Why is that?" Gero took another step forward, earning a sharper glare from the orange-clad man in front of him.

"A problem of too many people is easily corrected." The moment Gero said that, Satoshi could tell what the Doctor was planning to do, making Goku's eyes widened as the old man's blue eyes began to glow red.

"No! Stop!" Before Satoshi even thought about what he was doing, he had erected an energy shield around the three, causing Gero's eye lasers to simply be absorbed into the force field. Leaving Goku, Piccolo, and Tien with shocked and confused expressions on their faces.

"Explain yourself Satoshi. Why have you stopped my attack? Need I remind you what would happen should you disobey my orders?" Gero looked at the boy with a visible glare in his eyes.

"Forgive me Dr. Gero. But you shouldn't waste your energy on a bunch of weak people like these. You are not a perpetual energy model like I am, you would just waste your energy reserves." Satoshi replied, but the glare in the Doctor's eyes did not lesson.

"Very well. We shall take this battle to a location of your choosing. Goku." Gero said, directing his attention back towards Goku with a smirk. Only for the three's eyes to widen, wondering just how he could know of Goku's name.

"What?! How do these freaks know your name?" Tien asked in shock.

"We know a lot more than that. You're Piccolo, and you're Tien Shinhan." Hotaru was the next to speak before their attention directed towards the incoming sirens they could hear in the distance.

"We can ask questions later! Let's go!" Goku was the first to rush into the sky, only for the others to follow him.

Satoshi only looked down at the smoldering remains of the fuel truck and the charred rubble of what the explosion had caught. The same guilt was stabbing at his chest once more, he never wanted to hurt people, he didn't want to be forced to do these kinds of things.

But he was hoping that this would all be over soon.

* * *

**Okay this is one of the longest chapters I've written as of now!**

**I'm sorry updates have been slow, things have been hectic on my end but I'm working hard to update for you guys so please keep leaving the nice reviews and look forward to chapter nine! ^^**


	10. Chapter 9

It didn't take long for the warriors to land on a distant rocky island. Somewhere far enough away from the cities for Goku's liking.

Once they had landed, Satoshi gave a passing glance to Goku and couldn't help but notice how he seemed to be out of breath. A man like him who could defeat Frieza shouldn't be tired from just a flight!

Dr. Gero himself began to explain how the Red Ribbon Army had kept tabs on Goku from the time of the World Martial Arts Tournament all the way to his battle with Vegeta on Earth.

The Doctor was certain that he knew all of Goku's limitations, that he was easily going to win and take the vendetta against Goku for nearly annihilating the army all those years ago.

"What about my battle with Frieza? Did you record that?" Goku asked with a confident smirk on his face.

"By that point there was no need, with the data we had already gathered, we have already assumed the limitations of your powers." With that reply, the smirk on Goku's face only grew bigger. "Then you're in for quite a surprise."

"Take my word for it; your data is completely obsolete when it comes to the power of a super saiyan." Piccolo said with the same confident tone Goku was speaking in.

"Super Saiyan?" Gero had questioned but both Satoshi and Hotaru knew what that power was and as soon as that small phrase was uttered, Goku let out a mighty battle cry, his muscle mass growing in size, his black eyes changing to aqua blue and his hair changed to that signature golden blonde color.

"Incredible..." Satoshi spoke under his breath, his ice blue eyes widened in slight shock. Looking at the design on a trading card was one thing but actually witnessing the powerful transformation occurrence in front of you was an entirely different matter!

"Piccolo, Tien, stay out of this. It sounds like I'm the one these bastards want, and that's what they're gonna get." Goku said with a small growl in his voice, the golden aura continuing to glow around him, showing off just how much power he truly had.

"A most interesting development, this dormant power." Gero seemed to be unphased by the show of saiyan power taking place in front of him.

"Hmph, he still doesn't look too troubling to me. I'm taking him on." Hotaru took a step forward, only for Satoshi to look at her in slight shock. "Hotaru you can't be serious, this guy's powerful!"

"Let her go Satoshi, this will be an adequate test of her strength." Gero said with a smirk as Hotaru looked at Goku and cracked her knuckles. "Come at me." The moment she said that, Goku began rushing towards her. She tried to punch him but he vanished from her field of vision, only for her to try roundhouse kicking the man as he appeared behind her.

Goku was able to counter her kick, and from there, every punch or kick that Hotaru fired at Goku was blocked and avoided, almost as if he were trying to avoid using too much of his strength.

Hotaru then began jumping back, quickly flying behind a large rock formation and while using her own energy, made the rock formation explode as Goku rushed at her, causing him to shield his eyes from the debris, giving her the chance to fly upwards and tried firing another energy blast at him, only for Goku to dodge once more as she quickly flew upwards, in front of the sun's rays and began firing a powerful energy blast from her hands at Goku.

And just as Goku was rushing towards the brunette with a punch, Hotaru managed to dodge once more but her punch was once again blocked as she then backed away, rushing towards the ground as Goku began using his afterimage technique to try tripping her up until he appeared behind Hotaru, leaving the two standing back-to-back.

Hotaru's eyes narrowed slightly, and just as she was going to throw a punch towards Goku, he countered with his own punch to her stomach, knocking the air out of her as she quickly spiraled into a rock formation, making Satoshi's eyes widen.

"Hotaru!" He called and was going to rush towards the girl only to meet with the glare of Gero, mentally telling him to stay put until he said otherwise.

_"The hell is that guy doing?! He freaking pulled his punch!"_ Hotaru thought to herself, getting up from the rubble with a slight growl as she then started rushing towards Goku with a punch of her own, which was caught in Goku's hand, and was swiftly thrown into the air above him.

Goku rushed after the girl, avoiding every punch and kick that she threw his way. "What is your problem?! Why are you going easy on me!" Hotaru asked with a growl as she threw another punch to Goku, who caught it in his hand.

"Because I can tell you don't want to do this. Your friend down there looks like he's worried about you, so why are you doing this?" Goku asked, keeping the girl in an arm lock as she narrowed her eyes back at him.

"You wouldn't understand, I can't go back but I'm not going to drag him down to hell with me!" Hotaru growled, firing a set of eye beams at Goku as he quickly let go to avoid the attack before drop-kicking her towards the ground.

Hotaru was quick to recover and thus, began the power struggle once again, flurries of punches in kicks each being dodges in almost an equal manner with Hotaru taking more hits than Goku was at the moment but was still able to recover.

"You don't understand! I can't go back to the way things are! Even if I wanted to, I can't go back! I'm a machine, a cold, unfeeling machine now. But I'm not doing to drag him down to hell with me! That's the one thing I will not allow!" Hotaru had drop kicked Goku in the back, but he was able to recover and for a brief moment backed away, his breath becoming more labored and shallow than when the fight first started.

With every hit that Hotaru took, Satoshi had to fight even harder to keep himself from jumping in and stopping the fight, he couldn't bear to watch Hotaru fight off Goku like this and didn't even want to watch.

At the same time though, he couldn't help but notice how Hotaru was fighting, she seemed to be showing more rage and was saying something that he couldn't quite hear at their high altitude but whatever it was, it was just making Hotaru all the more mad.

But she was gaining the upper hand, Goku's movements were getting more rushed and sloppy, he was using up more energy then he needed to, like as if he was trying to hurry and defeat her while at the same time, was trying to hold himself back from hurting her too badly.

And with one more powerful drop kick, Hotaru was sent spiraling to the ground, creating a crater as she landed and making more rock formations crumble.

"Hotaru!" Satoshi called out one more time, it took everything that he had not to rush over but was relieved when he saw Hotaru getting up from the hit once again.

"I'm giving you one more chance, make the right choice!" Goku said through his pants as Hotaru just continued to glare back up at him, her icy blue eyes narrowing at him.

"What?! She's just dusting herself off!" Yamcha exclaimed, shortly during Goku and Hotaru's skirmish, he, Gohan, and Krillin had arrived on the scene.

"Of course, she's an android! She probably can't feel pain." Tien concluded, only making Hotaru clench her fists at her sides.

That was where he was wrong, she may have been an android now, but she could still feel everything as if she were still a human, fear, sadness, pain, anger, those were only some of the emotions she was currently feeling since this whole ordeal began.

Her blue eyes trailed over to Satoshi, seeing the concerned expression that he was wearing on his face and let out a small amused chuckle. _"He's really wasting concern on someone like me... He really is too good to be true."_

"Well! Make your choice! I can't condone you hurting innocent people! You have an option to get out! Are you going to take it?!" Goku called, snapping the girl out of her thoughts and directing her attention back at him with a small smirk.

"I already told you. I can't go back." She said with the same smirk still prominent on her face. Goku's eyes narrowed and in an instant began firing a kamehameha attack at her. Making her smirk grow even more, simply holding out her hand and began absorbing the energy from the attack into her body.

The other Z warriors were awestruck at what they had just witnessed. This girl had easily absorbed Goku's energy into her body as if it were nothing!

"Goku! Don't try hitting her with another energy blast! They can absorb it through their hands! Whatever you do! Don't let her grab you!" Piccolo called out to Goku who was visibly getting weaker as the battle went on.

"You're kidding me... She... She's like a sponge... "Goku tried to chuckle through his heavy pants. But the rest of the Z warriors could see that he was getting weaker, his breathing more shallow and it was obvious that he wasn't going to have the strength to finish these androids off.

"Thanks for the offer and the little energy gift you gave me, but I'm gonna have to decline, beating the shit out of you is too much fun!" With that said, Hotaru rushed towards Goku, trying to punch him but he weakly dodged this one and tried to retort with his own punch that was easily avoided.

"What's wrong? Already out of power? Come on Mr. Super saiyan! Show me a real fight!" She smirked, kneeing Goku in the stomach, only for Goku to respond with a punch to the face that seemed to do little damage to the brunette who swiftly drop kicked the man towards the ground.

"No you don't!" Goku panted, firing a weak energy blast back at the girl as he made himself stop from falling to the ground from her attack. "I... I gave you a chance! And you wasted it! You fool!" He panted but was already beginning to descend down to the ground slowly, his left hand was clenching at his chest.

"It's something else! It's has to do with his heart!" Gohan exclaimed but Hotaru was already descending to the ground with a small smirk, began walking towards the panting and weakened warrior in front of her.

"Hotaru..." Satoshi could only watch, he knew that any objection would result in the mad doctor punishing Hotaru for it and he wouldn't have it, but his eyes widened slightly.

Hotaru had never been like this, for as long as he's known her, he's never known her to take joy in harming others, especially not someone who was obviously sick and not up to fight like Goku and was just praying that she would come to her senses but could also tell that the programming the mad doctor had implanted in her mind was helping fuel her strange behavior.

"Awww what's the matter? Already tired? But I'm not done playing with you yet." Hotaru spoke with a more sadistic tone of voice, Goku glared back at her holding his hand out. "Stay back! I'm warning you!"

"Or else what? You're in no shape to fight. It'd be stupid of me to just let you go now wouldn't it?" The brunette smirked when in truth, she knew that if she didn't even make it look good that Gero would most likely punish Satoshi for insubordination while at the same time she could feel a rush of excitement go through her.

This was something she had never felt before; complete and utter power. At this moment, she could decide if Goku lives or dies, she had the power to change the course of history, all of that power was now in the palm of her hand and she was starting to enjoy the sensations that came along with it.

"Goku! Heads up!" She looked up when she saw Krillin quickly toss a senzu bean at Goku, though she was skeptical about how well it was going to work in this case.

"Thanks Krillin. I just needed a little pick-me-up." He panted, tossing the bean into his mouth, only for Hotaru to smirk, firing the red eye beams from her eyes once more, making Goku leap up to avoid them and only for the brunette to appear behind hum, kick him in the side, knee him in the stomach before finally drop kicking him to the ground.

"Come on! Fight back!" She smirked, rushing towards Goku and swiftly punching him in the face making him skid onto the ground even more before appearing from under the ground; punching him into the air and kneed him in the stomach. "Fight back!" Her voice was becoming more hysteric, almost as if she was trying to fight back laughter as she drop-kicked the weakened man to the ground once again.

She just watched with a smirk as the golden aura began to die down, his hair returning to its original color. Taking a small stride towards the injured man, Hotaru looked down at him as her smirk contorted into a frown and her eyes narrowing.

"Like I said before. I can't go back, and nothing will change that." With that said, the brunette opened the palm of her hand, revealing the red energy-sapping node that was inside of it and grabbed onto Goku's neck, sucking what little energy the man had left from his body.

"We can't just stand here! She's stealing his energy right in front of us!" Piccolo rallied the rest of the Z warriors as they began flying towards the scene, only to be stopped by Gero himself who stopped them mid-flight.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You see, she is a newer model and I want to make sure she is working up to standard. Anyone who wants to interfere can do so at their own peril." The mad doctor said with a smirk, making everyone freeze slightly but Piccolo's nerve was unchanging. "I'd like to see you try."

"So be it." And with that, the namekian was shot down by a pain of Gero's eye beams with Gohan rushing after him. "Piccolo!"

Satoshi could only watch in horror as his closest friend was spiraling down that dark road, confirming his fears. "Hotaru..."

Goku just lay there, trying feebly to pry the girl's hand off of his neck but to no avail. Hotaru's eyes were cold and emotionless, as if she had cut off all of her emotions at that moment and was solely focused on the task at hand; making sure Goku died by her hand.

"Hotaru! You have to stop this now!" Satoshi couldn't take it anymore and began flying towards the two, only for Hotaru to direct her emotionless gaze back at the boy. "I'm not stopping Satoshi. Gero wants this guy dead and that's what I'm doing so don't distract me."

"But this isn't you! You aren't a cold-blooded murderer! You're a good person! You can't let Gero win over you like this!" Satoshi was trying to reason with her, he didn't want to see her make these kinds of choices that would ruin the rest of her life.

But the way she saw it, her hands were already stained with blood, and nothing was ever going to make them clean again.

"I can't. I'm not a good a person you think I am. You really don't know me as well as you think you do Satoshi." Hotaru's cold gaze was directed back at Goku who was still in the process of having his energy sucked out.

"I know you're not giving yourself credit! You have to stop this!" Satoshi yelled as Gero gave him a glare from where he was floating. "Satoshi! Stop this insubordination! You know what will happen if you disobey me!"

"I don't care anymore you senile old fossil! You're not turning my friend into a heartless killing machine! Let him go Hotaru! Now!" Satoshi yelled back, looking at the girl with both a determined and pleading look in his blue eyes.

"If you don't let him go, I'm going to make you let him go." His tone was more severe that time and was now clenching his fists at his sides as he placed his hand upon hers.

"I'm only giving you one more chance. Let him go now or I'll make you let him go Hotaru."


	11. Chapter 10

_Her ice blue eyes began to open, the sunlight beaming down on her pale face. Awakening her from her somewhat-peaceful slumber._

_The girl wore nothing but a gray sweat-shirt that was a size too large on her, a pair of ripped-up blue jeans and an old pair of black converse._

_Her auburn hair, while long and flowing, was also matted with various snarls and tangles, the ends completely split and shaggy-looking._

_"I guess it's time to get to work." The girl mused to herself, getting up from her sitting position in the back alley behind what she could tell was just another clothing store._

_This girl's name is Hotaru Hana. And for as long as she could remember, she had always been alone._

_She had no parents to care for her, no living family members either. She had grown up on the cold streets of Satan City's underbelly. And though people often spotted her, not a single one ever tried to raise their hand to help her._

_But this was the life she was used to, there were times when she would often think about what it would be like if she were to have a family, a normal life like other girls her age._

_The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she couldn't picture herself with a normal life. This was what she considered life to be now, fighting and stealing for her next meal, trying to find somewhere safe to sleep which were few from plenty._

_Always being alone, she felt as though this was her destiny._

_She was born in darkness and that same darkness would always be her grave._

_Pulling her gray hood over her head, covering her wild and matted hair from view save for a few stray strands framing her face, Hotaru began walking out onto the sidewalk, only watching as various people were dealing with their daily commutes._

_Her piercing blue eyes just scanned from person to person, trying to scope out potential victims to pickpocket so she could afford to at least buy something to help keep her stomach full for the rest of the morning._

_"I mean it! They showed this guy on TV and I bet his biceps were bigger than Broly's!" Hearing the laughter and chattering of a few boys caught Hotaru's attention but when she turned her head to see where it was coming from, her eyes widened at the sight of one particular boy in the group._

_His silky black hair was tied into a small ponytail, only some of his long bangs were framing the sides of his face. He was wearing the signature uniform for the fancy prep school, Seven Star Academy. She often saw students from that school passing by on their morning commutes but often wondered why she had never spotted someone like him._

_The sound of his laughter resounded in her ears, like an iPod playing on repeat, his smile, from what she could see was completely genuine, showing just how kind he truly seemed to be._

_And his eyes, while a darker shade of blue than her own, she still found them to be captivating._

_"Come on Mamoru, there's no way that guy could be bigger than Broly! The man looks like a living steroid overdose!" The boy laughed, and just the sound of his voice was enough to make Hotaru's heart skip a beat._

_"So Satoshi, did you make sure to study for the exam we have coming up third period?" Akihiko had asked, but the only piece of information Hotaru had picked up was the name he used._

_"...Satoshi." The name just seemed to roll off her tongue so well, she placed a hand on her throbbing chest, she could practically feel the throbbing of her heart in her throat. Her palms were beginning to sweat, her cheeks were stained with a visible blush, and her previous hunger was gone and was now replaced with a swarm of furious butterflies fluttering around in her stomach._

_"The hell's wrong with me? Did I eat something bad? Why am I feeling this way?" And just when she had looked away to ask herself that question, she saw that the four boys had vanished, and along with them, the boy named Satoshi._

_"...Just what is going on with me?" She wondered to herself once more. She was no longer hungry, rather her mind was filled with images of that boy, she could remember every detail of his face as if it were burned into her memory._

_That carefree laugh of his, that kind and gentle smile, the beautiful shade of blue that colored his eyes, she had never felt sensations like this before._

_But she was old enough to know what all of this meant._

_She was in love._

* * *

"I mean it Hotaru! Let him go now or I'm gonna make you let him go!" Now she was staring down those same beautiful sapphire blue eyes, but she could see that while determined he just seemed to be concerned for her well-being.

But looking at herself now, she truly felt that there was no turning back. She was a cold, unfeeling killing machine, she would never truly be good enough to earn his affections now.

"And why the hell should I?! This is what I was made to do! For the first time in my life I'm the one in control! No one can tell me what to do! Not even yo-" Hotaru didn't get the chance to finish her sentence, as she was roughly kicked in the face and skidded on the ground, the kick forcing her to let go of Goku's neck.

"No walking piece of scrap metal is going to steal my thunder. If anyone is going to vanquish Kakarot, it's going to be me." Vegeta was now standing in front of Goku, a smug smirk donning his features and was obviously the one who had kicked Hotaru.

"What were you thinking Kakarot? You had to suspect something was affecting your body but like a fool you continued to push yourself. Did it ever occur to you that transforming into a super saiyan could accelerate the disease? I think you're trying to die just to get out of our rematch." Vegeta's tone was cold, though that was normal for whenever he spoke to Goku.

He spoke as if he were scolding a child for drawing on the walls, and with a kick to the man's back, Piccolo caught Goku in his hand and dropped him to the ground.

Hotaru was rubbing her cheek slightly, though now that she was an android, she couldn't really feel any physical pain from attacks like this but she was still angry that someone had robbed her of the power and control she was enjoying.

_"Vegeta! Crap, this is bad. Hotaru can't fight against someone like Vegeta! He'd murder her! He's merciless!"_ That thought went through Satoshi's head as he looked from Vegeta to Hotaru and started rushing over to Hotaru.

"Hey, come on Hotaru, while the old buzzard isn't looking we can get out of here." He tried to help the girl up but only to have his hand slapped away.

"Get away from me!" The brunette hissed as she picked herself up from the ground, giving Satoshi a glare. "I'm not a charity case! I don't need your help! I never needed it before and I don't need it now so stay out of my way while I deal with this spiky-headed moron!"

"Are you nuts Hotaru?! This guy is a lot more powerful than you are! He'll kill you!"

"Maybe that's what I want! Did you ever consider that?!" Hotaru yelled back, making Satoshi blink once in surprise from what she had just said.

"I would listen to your friend. It would be wise for you to run away now." Vegeta said with that same smug smirk that made Hotaru clench her fists at her sides.

"Hmph, like as if I'm gonna listen to someone like you! I'm not gonna let you take my kill from me!" Hotaru growled and was going to give chase once she spotted Yamcha and Goku flying away.

"No need for that Hotaru. His little friends will have to wet our appetites for the moment. With Vegeta joining us, things should be interesting." Gero had descended down to the ground with a confident smirk, only giving Satoshi a glare. "I will deal with you later."

"Number 20, I'm taking care of Vegeta. I have a score to settle with this man." Hotaru said with a growl in her voice, the mad doctor only looking at the rest of the group with a small smirk.

"Oh really now? Your energy is twice what it was and now you want seconds?"

"Don't do this Hotaru! He's too strong for you!" Satoshi yelled, but it was to no avail, all he met with was a glare from the girl.

"Very well, once you are finished Satoshi can have what you decide to leave him." Gero said with the same smirk as Hotaru cracked her knuckles and glared at the saiyan prince in front of her. "I'm gonna enjoy this."

"What a shame you're not a fraction as tough as you'd like to believe. It's easy enough to tell from the few moves I've seen that all anyone has to do is avoid those energy-sapping nodes on your palms." Vegeta said with a confident tone in his voice, only seemingly angering the brunette in front of him even more.

"That's if you're fast enough to. From what I saw, you just got lucky, that's it. Your ass is about to be handed to you on a silver platter, little prince." Hotaru said with a growl in her voice, which only made the smirk on the prince's face grow larger.

"And here I thought that Androids couldn't feel emotions. Tell me this; can you feel anything close to real fear?" He said with a smirk. The vein began throbbing on his forehead, his hair color began to flash from golden blonde to brown the ground itself began to tremble and without any prior warning, Vegeta let out a mighty battle cry, a crater forming in the ground from where he stood, his power releasing itself in a mighty shock-wave that made Hotaru back away a few steps, shielding her eyes from the bight light that came from the prince.

"Look! Vegeta's gone full-on Super saiyan!" Gohan called out, shielding his eyes from the bright light as well.

The power was too much for Hotaru to stand up to at this point and was knocked to the ground by just the shock-wave alone.

"I-Incredible..." Was all she was able to say, her eyes slightly wide but was trying not to show too much emotion or how much she felt about the prince's transformation.

"Vegeta?! But how is that even remotely possible?! I thought to reach super saiyan you had to be completely pure of heart like Goku!" Krillin exclaimed, the light dying down and leaving nothing but the now-super saiyan prince standing triumphantly.

Hotaru had begun picking herself up, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Vegeta who took a few steps forward. "Believe me, my heart is exceptionally pure. Pure evil to the core. You cannot know how single mindedly I dedicated myself to becoming stronger. Soon though, my limitations were painfully clear. But when I truly owned the self-hatred that realization brought, the super saiyan within me erupted to life" Hotaru continued to glare at the prince, only taking a small step back, just waiting for him to make the first move.

Satoshi just looked back at Hotaru, he could see the uncertainty in her eyes, she could tell that fighting against Vegeta like this would almost be like suicide. And he could tell that she was nervous and having second thoughts about fighting someone like Vegeta.

"Hmph, regardless of the strength you delusion yourself into thinking that you possess, the data remains the same. Hotaru. Make him suffer the same fate as Goku." Gero said in a more commanding tone of voice.

The brunette then glared back at Vegeta, her eyes glowing for a moment as she fired a pair of eye beams at him that simply bounced off of him and into the ground, resulting in a dust cloud covering the field of vision for the prince.

Jumping into the air, Hotaru began firing more eye beams at Vegeta from above, firing as many as twenty all in rapid fire and landing back on the ground just to see if her attacks had done anything to him.

But as the dust cloud began to die down, she saw that the attacks had barely scratched him and only let out a small growl as she then rushed towards the smirking prince, punching him roughly in the face, knocking his head back and proceeded to assault the prince with a flurry of quick punches and kicks, only making Vegeta take a simple step back but he still did nothing to retort.

"Come on! Fight back!" She growled, just the idea of being made fun of or taken lightly by someone like Vegeta infuriated her to no end.

The prince simply looked back at the angered girl in front of him, his lip bleeding slightly but the smirk never leaving his features. "Now, what do you say I take my turn now?" That made Hotaru flinch slightly and take a simple step back. "Though I must warn you, in this form I may get a little overzealous. And patience wasn't a virtue of mine to begin with anyway. I assume androids don't really register pain. A lucky break for you."

Though it was true that Hotaru felt no pain from any of the attacks she had put up with, she was still capable of feeling emotions like this and took another small step back, keeping her guard up and knowing by the tone in the prince's voice that the ensuing attack wasn't going to be a gentle one.

Without any warning, Vegeta roughly kicked the girl in the stomach, knocking the air our of her, elbowed her to the ground before delivering a swift punch to her face, sending her skidding to the ground and towards a rock formation.

Dr. Gero was in complete shock, he hadn't expected Hotaru to be so outclassed so quickly or that Vegeta would grow to this kind of power level either.

Satoshi's eyes were wide as well, he couldn't just stand by anymore and watch Hotaru take this kind of beating, no matter what Gero said or if she wanted his help or not, he was going to help her.

"Hotaru!" He called out and was going to rush towards her but felt his arm being grabbed by Gero. "She shall deal with this on your own Satoshi. No one is to interfere."

"To hell with what you say! She's my friend! I'm not going to let you get in my way! Let me go!" The raven-haired boy yelled, trying to get his arm free but only watching in horror as Hotaru was now in the sky, trying to punch the prince but Vegeta was quick to dodge every punch and retorted with a punch to her face, making her lip and nose begin bleeding.

"Hmph, you're sturdily built. Now is that blood or oil?" He asked in that same smug tone once more, only further enraging the brunette as she fired another set of eye beams at the prince only to blink when Vegeta appeared above her and drop-kicked her into the ground.

A large crater formed in the ground from her landing, causing everyone to look at the crater with shocked expressions.

Hotaru just lay on the ground, her clothes already tattered and the blood that was coming from her lip and nose already beginning to dry.

Her blue eyes opened slightly, though she could not feel pain, she could still feel that Vegeta was getting closer to her. She was no match for him, his power was far too great for her to deal with on her own.

Looking up at the blue sky above her, she began lamenting over how she had foolishly refused Satoshi's help, even now she realized that every time she were to refuse him, it would come back to bite her in the rear.

Her eyes began to close, she was certain that these were her final moments, and if they were her last moments of life, then she was going to at least try thinking pleasant thoughts before she had to go.

* * *

_"Damn it, looks like I can forget lunch today." Hotaru sighed to herself, she had tried pick-pocketing a business man on the sidewalk but there were too many people around, she would surely get caught._

_But some days were like this for her, she often had to steal, fight, and sometimes do other things just to make sure she had her next meal._

_Looking down at her feet as she walked, she headed towards the back alley sandwiched between a shoe store and a tattoo parlor that she decided to settle down in and call home._

_Weeks had passed since she first saw Satoshi, and she had now made it a habit for herself to see him going to and from school. She would often want to follow him, just to try to talk to him but the shackles of the darkness she was forced into were too strong, she could not break free long enough for her to talk to him._

_But that could never be. She often felt like she was the wolf from the Red Riding hood story she often heard, her clothes were dirty, her body was covered in scars in bruises, her hair was always a mess, and no matter how much she prayed and hoped, nothing was going to change the inevitable._

_She had recently learned that Satoshi was from a wealthy family, he lived in a large mansion which she imagined had to be the ideal life. But that was all the more reason she could never get close to him._

_She was a homeless street urchin, nothing could change that. No one would take her in, she had no family, she had no friend, all she knew was the loneliness the darkness around her always seemed to attract._

_As she arrived in front of the alleyway, she blinked a couple of times, looking down at a paper bag that was in front of her. She took a look around her, to see if anyone was around, but no one seemed to notice her._

_She picked up the bag curiously, and upon opening it, her eyes widened when she saw that inside of the bag was a hamburger, a side of french fries and even a milkshake._

_Someone had actually left food for her._

_"Where the hell did this come from? Did someone leave it here?" Those kinds of thoughts went through her mind, and upon picking up the burger, she could still feel that it was warm. This food was still fresh!_

_Taking the bag with her, she went deeper into the alley and started looking at what was in the bag, the burger, the french fries, the shake, but she then spotted what looked like a small card, as large as a business card at least._

_When she opened it, she saw a hand-written message inside the card. **"I thought you might be hungry. This isn't much but I hope I get to see you again." ~Satoshi."**_

_Her heart skipped a beat once more, her cheeks heating up with a bright blush. Never, not even in a million years could she ever imagine that he would do something this kind for her... And he wanted to see her again?_

_She clenched the bag in her hands slightly, quickly taking a bite of the warm burger she quickly picked up. "Why is he doing this for me?" As she continued to eat, she just couldn't imagine why someone like Satoshi who could easily be considered as having everything she lacked, being this kind to her- a girl he didn't even know._

_She just couldn't fathom it, why someone she had never even talked to was being so kind to her, she couldn't even muster up the courage to talk to him!_

_As soon as she finished eating, her eyes widened slightly... Could there be another reason for this? Maybe he lost a bet and he was forced to do this by his friends?_

_Was this all nothing but a sick joke at her expense?_

_Just the mere thought of that made Hotaru clench her teeth, she was not going to be made fun of! Especially not by someone like him!_

_She tossed the empty bag into a nearby garbage can and angrily began walking down the sidewalk, she knew that around this time, he would be in the city park with his friends._

_"I'm not gonna be the butt of some stupid joke! I'm not going to be made a fool of again!" Hotaru continued her angry walk until she found herself in the park, looking around, it was already getting dark, the sun was beginning to set._

_As she looked around the area, she was just focused on finding Satoshi and finding out if his act of kindness was nothing but a lost bet or something of the like._

_The moment the brunette spotted him, she managed to swallow her nerves for the moment, spotting him sitting on a park bench by himself. His friends were nowhere to be seen._

_"Is he alone today?" As she observed Satoshi, she could see that he was holding what looked like a golden locket in the palm of his hand._

_She quietly crept up behind the boy from behind a tree, curiosity was making her rage begin to die down some._

_Looking a little more closely, Hotaru could see that inside of the locket was a picture of a man with the same hairstyle Satoshi was wearing, but he looked much older and had jet black eyes. And standing next to him was a woman with dark brown wavy hair, her kind eyes were the same shade of sapphire blue Satoshi's were._

_Those two were obviously his parents but seeing the way he was staring down at the picture made her rage die down. He was obviously upset, perhaps mourning?_

_"I know how it feels to be alone." He suddenly spoke up, making Hotaru jump slightly where she stood, how did he know where she was?_

_"My parents died when I was just a kid. And even though it was a long time ago... I still miss them. I keep seeing you on the streets, I asked around and I found out that you were homeless. I guess you know how it feels to be alone too."_

_"How the hell can you know what being alone is like? You have friends. I see you with them all the time. No one's ever wanted to be around me." Hotaru didn't move from her spot in front of the tree but was still slightly surprised that he could tell that she was behind him._

_"Believe me, I know. I know that to you, I may seem like a happy little rich kid. But these days, all I do is wear a happy face to keep my friends and my cousin from worrying about me. Living alone in such a big house just makes you feel small... It reminds me of how alone I really am there." His blue eyes trailed back down to the locket in his hand._

_"Whenever I got lost in that big house, my mom or my dad would always come when I needed them. But that isn't the case anymore." Hotaru just continued to watch him, clenching her fist slightly._

_She was seeing a lot of herself in this boy, the loneliness often ate at her soul, she never knew the love of her parents, she never even knew who they were. But she couldn't even imagine how hard it had to be to have known that love just to have it ripped away._

_"I... Wanted to thank you for the food you left for me. You know you didn't have to do that." She watched as Satoshi put his locket back into his pocket and gave her a small smile._

_"Of course I did. I don't know, I guess I could see some of myself in you. You looked like you needed a friend. If you want, you can stay with me." She couldn't understand this, why was he- a boy she barely knew, actually offering to let a stranger stay in his house with him!_

_Was this just a cruel joke? Or was he really that trusting of a moron that he would let anyone in his home?_

_"Why are you being so nice to me? You don't even know me. You think that if you're nice I'm just gonna follow you?! I don't need your help! Just tell me right now! Did you lose some bet or something?! Why are you doing this?!" Hotaru yelled back at him, she wanted answers, she wasn't the type of person who could trust another so easily._

_"I'm doing this because I know you hate to be alone. And no, I didn't lose any bet. I just saw you as someone who needed a friend." Satoshi replied with the same soft smile before holding out the locket in his hand._

_"And if you were a bad person than take this locket, the only thing my parents left me and go pawn it or something." He said simply, looking back at Hotaru who blinked a couple of times as she looked back at the locket and then to Satoshi._

_"I mean it. Go ahead and steal it. If you do, then I would've made a mistake being kind to you." He said in the same simple tone as he looked back into Hotaru's eyes, making the girl's pale cheeks turn red and quickly looked back at the locket, slowly reaching her hand out._

_"Fine! This should buy me some food for a while!" That thought went through her mind but she could not bring herself to take the locket._

_Her hand remained stretched out, only mere inches away from the locket. She could feel Satoshi's eyes burning holes into her body, she knew that if she made eye contact with him then that would just spell disaster._

_Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of fighting herself, she brought her hand back down, holding it at her side. "...I can't do it."_

_"Are you sure about it? If you stole it, I wouldn't do anything about it." Satoshi said in a simple reply but Hotaru's eyes were directed at her feet, her blush now covering the rest of her face._

_It was as if this boy could see right through her, as if he knew she wouldn't take the locket, that she really did want a way out of the darkness that she called her way of life._

_"... I can't take it." The moment she said that, she felt Satoshi grab her wrist and in an instant was running after him, following the boy with a new grin on his face._

_"You're gonna love staying with me Hotaru! Don't worry, you won't be alone anymore." He said with a smile still plastered on his features, that same smile made Hotaru's heart pound into her throat, her face was completely red and she could barely process what was going on._

_But the moment he said that she wouldn't be alone anymore, for the first time in her life, Hotaru could see her vision getting blurry, tears were working their way into her eyes, and were already spilling over her cheeks._

_Relieved, overjoyed, those would pale in comparison to how Hotaru was feeling at the moment. She was finally going to leave the darkness she used to call her life, and a new bright chapter was about to start with a kind boy, a beacon of light guiding her way from now on._

_"Thank you... Satoshi." A small smile appeared on her face as she kept following him._

_And from that moment on, she was confident that she would always be happy, she would be able to finally life the carefree attack she had always dreamed of._

* * *

_"Why am I thinking of that time now? Maybe your life really does flash before your eyes before you die."_ Hotaru was standing with her back to the end of the crater she was still standing in.

The saiyan prince in front of her was still wearing that same smug smirk and was closing in on her with every step. "What's the matter? Already lost your will to continue? What happened to all that fight you had in you?"

"S-Stay the hell away from me!" She yelled, backing up as much as she could but that couldn't stop the prince from getting even closer. "Odd reaction for an android. I suppose they really do feel fear."

_"This is it. I'm really gonna die here! I'm gonna get killed by Vegeta!"_ Hotaru's blue eyes were wide as the prince stood smugly in front of her, she knew that he was going to attack. She knew that he was going to kill her but the question was, when was he going to do it?

_"I can't die here! I just can't!"_ With that thought, Hotaru quickly climbed out of the crater and started running away, all of her instincts were telling her to run from the prince, to try to cling to her pitiful life just a moment longer but the prince rose from the crater with the same smirk.

"You stop!" Gero yelled, ready to fire an attack at Vegeta. "Wait your turn! Once the girl is dealt with I'll deal with you next!" He growled, the aura around him getting even stronger as he held his hand out.

"Hotaru!" Satoshi had broken out of Gero's grip and quickly caught up with the girl who continued to run. "Get the hell out of here Satoshi! He's gonna kill me! I just know it!" She yelled back, a look of panic and fear in her eyes along with a couple of small tears.

"No he isn't! Not as long as I'm here!" Satoshi said with a determined expression, only looking back with wide eyes as he saw the Big Bang Attack being launched at them.

No matter how much they ran, that would not save them, the attack was going to hit them. And as a last ditch defensive tactic, Satoshi quickly erected a force field around himself and Hotaru in an attempt at stopping the attack but to his horror, once the blue orb of energy collided with his shield, it began to crack.

"Satoshi!" Hotaru called out, but the attack continued to combat the shield. "This is my fault! I was too stubborn! And now we're both gonna die! I'm sorry Satoshi! I'm sorry I'm gonna drag you to hell with me!" As she yelled, her eyes widened when she saw Satoshi wrap his arms around her, a visible blush staining her cheeks.

"I'm sorry Hotaru, I'm so sorry!" Was all she heard Satoshi say as the Big Bang Attack broke through the shield, resulting in a massive explosion that made the very surface of the Earth shake.

The smoke began to clear but as Vegeta looked around, a slightly confused expression appeared on his face. He couldn't see any remains of the two.

He didn't see them in the area at all!

"What?! How is this possible?! How could they have gotten away?!" He exclaimed, already in a rage as the other Z warriors looked around in shock, Satoshi and Hotaru were nowhere to be seen.

Gero clenched his fists slightly, looking around the area and was puzzled as well. Satoshi and Hotaru were nowhere around, that was simply impossible! How could those two have vanished into thin air like that?!


	12. Chapter 11

"This is my fault! I was too stubborn! And now we're both gonna die! I'm sorry Satoshi! I'm sorry I'm gonna drag you to hell with me!" As Hotaru yelled, her eyes widened when she saw Satoshi wrap his arms around her, a visible blush staining her cheeks.

"I'm sorry Hotaru, I'm so sorry!" Was all she heard Satoshi say as the Big Bang Attack broke through the shield, resulting in a massive explosion that made the very surface of the Earth shake but just before the shield broke, Satoshi's eyes widened when she spotted Gerome, who placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and in the blink of an eye, was now sitting under the ledge of a large rock formation with Hotaru in his arms.

"Gerome?! When the hell did you get here?!" The question was asked more in shock than anything.

Hotaru began opening her eyes when she never felt the attack hit her or Satoshi. As she opened them, they widened and a bright red blush began staining her cheeks.

_"I'm in Satoshi's arms... Satoshi is actually holding me!"_ Her heart was pounding in her chest, she was tempted to just close her eyes and lose herself in the warmth of Satoshi's arms but there was one large issue keeping her from doing just that.

"... Are you both alright?" Gerome looked back to the two as his red eyes began scanning the landscape. The large smoke cloud from the attack's explosion was filling the sky.

"Yeah, we're both alright. It's a good thing you got here when you did. Otherwise we'd be dead by now." Satoshi said with a relieved sigh escaping his lips as he started getting up, letting go of Hotaru, much to the brunette's dismay.

"Are you alright Hotaru? I know Vegeta gave you a beating." Satoshi began looking around the brunette with a concerned expression. Only for Hotaru to get up, brushing herself off a bit. "I'm fine. I do feel a little drained though."

"Your power cells may be running low after your fight." Gerome spoke, still cautiously looking around the area. He knew that the others would be coming after them, especially Dr. Gero who would no doubt, be trying to get to his lab.

"But where the heck am I supposed to get energy from?" Hotaru asked before seeing Satoshi hold his hand out to her. "Here, take some of my energy."

"Satoshi, you don't have to do this, besides wouldn't it drain you too?" Hotaru had a light blush staining her cheeks once more at the thought of taking energy from Satoshi.

"Not really, Gero made me an android like 17 and 18. My energy never runs out so take as much as you want." And she saw it again, that cheerful, yet somehow childlike smile that could always stain her cheeks with that blush.

"Fine, but don't blame me if I suck you dry." She said with a slightly stubborn tone as she grabbed Satoshi's hand and began siphoning energy from the boy as he then looked towards Gerome.

"Gerome. How the heck did you survive that fall? We thought that you were dead." Gerome then looked at his hands before turning his attention to the two he just saved. "... I can't explain it... I think I just got lucky." He still had no idea where that senzu bean had come from or who it came from but that was one of the least of his concerns at the moment.

"We have to move. To get to Gero's lab." The purple bio-android said suddenly as he spotted the Z warriors- or more specifically Vegeta- rushing towards the area.

"Gero's lab? But why do we have to go back there? Wouldn't Gero be heading back there himself?" Satoshi asked with a confused expression before seeing Gerome start heading in the direction of the laboratory.

"There are a few things there that we have to get." Was all Gerome said before looking back at the two. "Will you trust me?" He asked as the two then looked at each other before nodding.

"Of course we are. You saved us Gerome, we've got no reason not to trust you." Satoshi said with a small grin, and with that, the three androids began carefully heading towards the laboratory once more.

"But what about Vegeta? Won't he be coming after us?" Hotaru asked, looking over her shoulder and was able to see the glowing prince standing on a far-off ledge.

"He will be more focused on Dr. Gero than us. We need to take this chance and go now." Gerome was more focused on the path ahead of him. Though their last encounter was a brief one, he knew that the reflective cards that Satoshi and Hotaru had with them must still be in the laboratory.

He just had to get those cards to them and they could escape the destruction that was sure to ensue from his creation and the chain of events that had taken place.

* * *

"Well, from the looks of it, we're too late. I don't see any sign of Goku or any of Dr. Gero's androids here either." Trunks was floating above South City. From his point of view, the island was perfectly fine, no destruction or if there were he couldn't see from where he was floating.

"The place looks fine, I thought we'd be seeing a bunch of fighting or something." Mamoru looked down at the island with a more puzzled look.

"But we have to find the others, if we don't who knows what could happen." Tsukimi was looking around the area before looking in the direction of the northwest. She could sense energy signals in that direction. Someone was fighting.

"That's it! They must have changed their location!" Trunks said and with that, he began speeding off towards that direction with the kids following suit.

"We have to be getting close. I hope Satoshi and Hotaru are alright though." Kimiko was looking down at the ground as she flew, passing over water, the rocky landscape where the previous battle had taken place before gasping when she spotted the rather large crater in the ground where Vegeta's Big Bang Attack had hit.

"Oh my goodness!"

"Damn! Check out the size of this crater! No doubt this was Vegeta's handy work." Kasumi said, looking around the crater.

"We should keep moving, time is not on our side." Akihiko said as he looked around the area for a moment. All he was worried about at the moment was if Satoshi was alive and well.

"Man we should've gotten here sooner! I would've loved to see Vegeta in action!" Mamoru said with an excited tone in his voice as he continued to look around the area.

"Awww then you can say hi to your mommy." Kasumi said with a smirk, only earning a growl from the long-haired boy. "I told you to quit with that gross joke! Vegeta isn't my mom!"

"I wish the two of you would quit arguing, we have to get going before-" Tsukimi stopped mid-sentence when she heard a large explosion go off in the west.

"The fight's still going on!" Yuuki exclaimed as he and the others began speeding towards the area as quickly as they could.

"Oh this is awesome! If anyone's dead I get first dibs on drawing them!" Kasumi said with an excited grin, only earning confused looks from her friends.

"You are so weird sometimes." Tsukimi sighed before seeing that they had arrived, earning surprised expressions from the other Z warriors.

"Trunks is here?" Piccolo questioned, only making Vegeta's eyes widen at the realization but Krillin and Gohan were the first to look at the kids with confused expressions. "But who are those kids?" Krillin was the first to ask but instead of answering, Tsukimi was focused on the surprised expression that was on Trunks' face.

_"That's not one of the androids in my time line. I've never seen him before!"_ That was the only thought that went through his mind, making him wonder just how much of the time line he had changed by going to and from different periods of time.

"Hey look at the old-timer. You don't want to draw him Kasumi?" Mamoru asked with a rather un-amused expression on his face, watching the tanned girl look at the Doctor for a moment before shrugging. "Nah, he isn't dead. Not interested."

"Is this the android you've been fighting?" Trunks asked through his surprise at Dr. Gero's appearance.

"Not just him, there were two others but they looked younger. One of them had black hair tied into a ponytail and the other was a girl with brown hair." Gohan explained, making the kids' eyes widen.

_"Boy with a ponytail and a girl with brown hair? No way, no way that just can't be right!"_ Yuuki thought with slightly wide eyes. Kimiko was looking at Satoshi with a concerned expression of her own, seeing the boy's eyes widen as well at the thought that his cousin could be an android and actually on the other side!

"I just don't get it, he's not one of the androids from my time, and those don't sound like the others either!" Trunks said, only further shocking the rest of the Z warriors.

"What?! If this isn't one of the androids you warned us about then what is it?!" Vegeta exclaimed until Tsukimi was the first to speak up.

"He's Dr. Gero himself." She said in a simple tone, making the old man's eyes widen.

"Dr. Gero?! How could that be Dr. Gero?!" Krillin exclaimed, only for Tsukimi to sigh. Things had gotten complicated. Very complicated.

Android 19 was no longer in the picture, from the sound of it, Satoshi and Hotaru were allied with Dr. Gero and are now androids.

_"How could things have gotten so screwed up? But where are Satoshi and Hotaru now?"_ That thought went through Tsukimi's mind until she looked at Akihiko who looked at the other Z warriors. "Where are the other androids you spoke of?"

"That's the thing, they just vanished. Vegeta tried to finish them off but when the smoke cleared, the two were gone and we're pretty sure they're still running around somewhere." Piccolo replied before hearing what sounded like an aircraft heading towards them.

"Hey Gohan, call me crazy but is that Bulma?" Krillin asked when he spotted Bulma in her aircraft heading towards the scene.

"It's too dangerous! Stay away from here!" Trunks exclaimed to the aircraft only to stop when he heard Gero yelling from below.

"I wasn't kidding when I said that I would have my vengeance! The moment I'm gone, Numbers 17 and 18 will awaken to avenge me!" And with a maniacal laugh, Gero had unleashed a powerful energy shock wave that shook the area.

Tsukimi quickly looked to Bulma's aircraft and though she was trying to shield her eyes from the bright light of the blast, she flew towards the aircraft as quickly as she could.

"Tsukimi!" Yuuki called out, seeing the girl flying off in a different direction and quickly began following her.

Tsukimi then rushed towards the falling aircraft, forcing the hatch open and quickly managed to grab Bulma's arm and get her out while holding the baby Trunks in her other arm.

At first, Yuuki was astonished at how fearless she seemed. She looked like she was in complete control of the situation but quickly snapped out of it when he heard Yajirobe screaming and quickly began flying towards the aircraft to help the large man out.

The light from the attack began to die down along with the rest of the shock wave, leaving nothing but a small rain of rocks and debris.

"There, are you alright?" Tsukimi asked once she got Bulma on the ground safely and continued to hold the crying baby in her other arm.

"Oh man, that was a close one. Ah! Trunks! Where did Trunks go?!" The blunette quickly exclaimed before sighing in relief when she saw Tsukimi holding the baby in her arm and picked him up. "Oh thank goodness. I owe you one, or maybe even two."

"It's no problem, it's what I do." Tsukimi smiled back at the woman before seeing the rest of her friends with Gohan and Krillin flying over.

"Yo! Tsukimi! You alright over there!" Kasumi called out as she landed on the ground with the others.

"Bulma! Are you okay?" Gohan asked, only for the bluenette to smile slightly. "Yeah, never better. Thanks to our new friend here." Tsukimi had looked up into the sky, seeing that Trunks was flying after Vegeta and clearly wasn't happy.

"What is wrong with you?! They were in danger! And you didn't lift a finger to help them!"

"Clearly."

"You don't care about your son or his mother?!"

"Ha! Should I? They're both weaklings who only serve to get in my way." Tsukimi just watched the exchange between the teenager and his father. Clenching her fists slightly. She couldn't understand how someone like him could even call himself a father.

_"Fathers are supposed to be kind! Fathers are supposed to protect and love their families!"_ Those were the only thoughts that went through her mind as she glared at Vegeta, only watching as he flew away and leaving Trunks with an appalled expression on his face.

"Trunks, are you alright?" She asked, carefully approaching the lavender-haired boy as he let out a sigh. "I just can't believe him..." He said through gritted teeth, clenching his fists at his sides before starting to fly down to where the others had all gathered.

She could understand his rage. Ever since her father had passed away,, she always considered that fathers should at least follow his example. Be loving to their family, protect the family and just be a good person like her father was. But it was obvious that Vegeta was none of those things.

"But that girl said that was the actual Dr. Gero, there's no way that can be right though!" Krillin said as Bulma was trying to calm down the baby in her arms. "No she was right. That is Dr. Gero. It looks like he just converted himself to an android though."

"Are you serious?! That was really Dr. Gero?!" Krillin exclaimed as Tsukimi sighed and started walking over with Trunks. "Yes, that was Dr. Gero. Why is that so hard to believe? The man was a genius but was a mad scientist too."

"Everything you've told us has been wrong! Just what the hell is going on here?! You said that Dr. Gero was killed by his own damned androids! But the ones we fought weren't the right ones were they?!" Vegeta growled, flying down onto the scene and glaring at Trunks.

"Yeah... Things are unfolding differently from when they happened in my time line. And my messing with the past and future is probably what caused all of this." Trunks said, glaring down at his feet.

"He mentioned Numbers 17 and 18. Those are the ones from your time line aren't they? The ones we fought went by the names Satoshi and Hotaru. And if they weren't the right androids then you need to tell us what they look like now so we can identify them. We can't afford to be careless right now." Piccolo explained as he walked over as well.

But the mere mention of Satoshi and Hotaru's names made Tsukimi swallow slightly. _" So they really are androids.. This is bad. How could something like this have happened?"_ She thought to herself before beginning to look around the area and not seeing the boys around.

"Hey, where did the boys go?" She asked, looking at Kasumi who snickered under her breath. "Helping Yuuki save Yajirobe over there. Don't worry they're fine."

"Android 17 is a young man with long black hair and a scarf tied around his neck. 18 is a girl, blond hair to her shoulders. If she wasn't evil, I might call her cute." Trunks explained but the mere mention of the word 'cute' caught her attention especially.

_"I might call her cute... Cute... Cute... Cute..."_ The word continued to resound in her mind, and each time it did, it just made her clench her fists even more.

Her bangs began to cover her eyes, her teeth were clenched slightly, only causing her two friends to look at her with slightly concerned expressions. "Tsukimi? Are you alright?" Kimiko asked carefully as Kasumi only smirked a little bit. "Someone's jelly~"

"They both wear earrings, round ones. That might help you identify them." Trunks finished explaining. "Do these androids also absorb energy through their hands?" Piccolo asked as he took a step forward.

"Absorb energy? No. These are much worse... Their energy lasts forever." Trunks said with a small growl in his voice.

"No! Infinite power is a myth! You're just too weak!" Vegeta hissed, giving another glare to his son from the future. Only making Tsukimi growl and walk over.

"He is not weak! I haven't even been here for a day and I'm already sick of hearing you talk like you're the king of the universe and looking down on him!" Vegeta's voice was the last thing Tsukimi wanted to hear.

The anger and rage she was feeling from her own jealousy demons arising was already pushing her self-control to its limits. And Vegeta only added to that.

"Tsukimi, it's fine. We can argue about their specs later. Right now we need to focus on finding Gero. I assume that since Goku isn't here that he's already sick with the heart virus." Trunks looked at Krillin who nodded slightly. "Yeah, he got sick a while ago. Right now he should be at home."

"Woman! Tell me you know the location of Gero's laboratory! He could be heading there right now as we speak!" Vegeta growled, looking at Bulma.

"Oh man you have no idea how much I wanna kick his ass!" Tsukimi hissed as Kasumi chuckled and patted the girl's back. "Relax girl, you'll get your chance later. When you finally get to super saiyan though." She whispered the last part. She knew that Tsukimi couldn't fight against a super saiyan Vegeta at her current level.

"You're right. Besides, we need to find Satoshi and Hotaru now. You heard what they said. They fought against them so something has to be going on with them." Tsukimi said as she started walking.

"Awww do we have to go right now? I wanna see the prince throw a bitch fit and storm off like a diva~!" Kasumi said with a playful whine as she looked into the sky, already watching as Trunks and Vegeta were having a verbal exchange.

"If you're so determined to fight the androids at least wait until Goku's feeling better! You can't defeat them on your own!"

"Ha! Like I would wait for that miserable low-class! There is no possible way that his super saiyan powers exceed my own! I am royalty so for the last time get out of my way!" Vegeta yelled back, quickly flying off and leaving Trunks floating in the sky, looking down with his fists clenched at his sides.

"Trunks..." Tsukimi was looking up at the lavender-haired teen and clenched her fists slightly. She knew that Vegeta was arrogant, but he had a child and a family to look after, why couldn't he understand that his life actually affects others now?

"Did I call it? I totally called it! Someone better pick up that phone because I freaking called it!" Kasumi laughed as she watched the glowing prince storm off into the sky.

"Um Kasumi, maybe now isn't the best time to laugh at the expense of others." Kimiko said with a sigh as she rubbed her temples.

"Why not? This is hilarious! Vegeta is such a freaking diva! I wish that Mamoru was here instead of helping Yajirobe to see that!" Kasumi continued to laugh, but the moment Tsukimi spotted Trunks flying after his father prompted her to go after him.

"Trunks! Wait!" She called after him before speeding off after him. "Tsukimi!" Kimiko called before sighing. "She is always so reckless. I hope she knows what she's getting herself into."

"Relax girl, love makes any girl turn into a wreck. Right now we just get the pleasure of watching it blow up in her face." Kasumi chuckled, putting an arm around the short-haired girl's shoulders.

"Okay so not to be rude but exactly who are you kids? You didn't come with Trunks when he came back from the future before." Bulma spoke up, making the two girls turn to her.

"Looks like she already knows how hot her son turns out. Might as well introduce ourselves." Kasumi chuckled as she started walking over. "Sorry about earlier, with all that crap going on we couldn't get our names out. My name is Kasumi Yuuga, resident demon queen at your service. And this little cutie here is my best friend Kimiko Shuurei." Kasumi said, pointing at the short-haired girl who was blushing lightly.

"I-It's nice to meet you all. We hope to really be of help to you all in these trying times." Kimiko spoke, fiddling her fingers nervously before finding Kasumi's arm around her shoulders again.

"As for the bow-wearing girl that just flew after Trunks. That's our other friend Tsukimi Masami. And the boys are over there helping Yajirobe." Kasumi said, pointing at the three boys struggling to pull the large man over a ledge.

"H-Hey! Don't drop me!"

"It'd be easier if you weren't so damned big!" Mamoru groaned, trying to hold the man up.

"The one without the shirt is Mamoru Tsukemo, the one in the blue outfit is Akihiko Chino and the one in the red is Yuuki Yuukanhito but they're a little busy right now so they should be with us shortly." Kasumi chuckled, watching the three boys struggling.

"But shouldn't you two be helping him?" Krillin asked as Kasumi shrugged. "Please, ladies like us shouldn't have to stoop down to doing grunt work like that. Ask me to punch a dude in the face and I might reconsider."

"And what do you two know about those androids we just fought? When I mentioned their names, you all seemed to be shocked." Piccolo spoke up as Kimiko glanced away slightly.

"Well the two androids you fought are our friends. Satoshi is Akihiko's cousin and Hotaru is a close friend of ours. The entire situation is very complicated so we feel that it'd be best to save the explanation for later."

"Hey Bulma, when you see my dad tell him that we're all looking for Gero's lair, oh and if he gets to feeling better then he should join us." Gohan said, walking towards Bulma who only glanced at the remains of her aircraft.

"Well sure Gohan but how am I supposed to get there?"

"Gohan, you fly her home, the rest of us will be plenty to destroy a couple of un-activated androids." Piccolo told the boy who nodded slightly. "Right."

"Well looks like it's go time. Should we wait for the three stooges over there to finish messing around with Yajirobe?" Kasumi asked as Kimiko glanced over her shoulders at the others.

"GAH! HE'S GOT MY HAIR! HE'S GOT MY HAIR!" Mamoru yelled before finally, the three boys were able to get Yajirobe out of the cavern he had fallen into, leaving the long-haired boy to start rubbing his head. "OH GOD! AM I BLEEDING?!"

"Relax Mamoru, you aren't bleeding. But we should get going. We need to find Satoshi and Hotaru fast." Yuuki said as he got up and brushed himself off before looking around. "Huh? Where'd Tsukimi go?"

"Oh she went flying off after Trunks a while ago." Bulma explained as Gohan began picking her up to fly off with her.

"What?! She actually went after him! Oh man she's doing something reckless again!" Yuuki sighed as he quickly started flying off. "Come on guys! We gotta go now!"

"Wait a sec Yuuki! I'm sure she's fine!" Mamoru called as he began flying after the red-clad boy with the others flying after him.

"Yuuki, remember what we came here for. We must find Satoshi and Hotaru. They are our first priority. Tsukimi may be reckless but she can take care of herself." Akihiko said, grabbing Yuuki's arm to stop him.

"I just hope you're right Akihiko. I don't want anything to happen to her." Yuuki sighed as he began flying towards where the other Z warriors were.

"Oh please she'll be fine, you're talking about the girl that kicked the asses of the whole football team for one sexist comment! And the internet still loves it!" Kasumi smirked as Kimiko sighed. "You really have some bad habits Kasumi."

"You call them bad, I call them fun!"

* * *

By this point, Satoshi, Hotaru, and Gerome were in a more forested area of the mountains, still being cautious of their pursuers.

"Gerome, what is it that you need to get from Gero's lab anyway that we have to go back there?" Satoshi asked as he continued running at the left of the purple bio-android.

"To start off, an upgraded power cell for Hotaru would help with her energy problem. I could take the one from Android 19 and replace Hotaru's with it." Gerome's eyes were focused on the path ahead of him, he was completely focused on getting to the lab with no other conflicts or problems.

"And you know how to do something like that? Because no offense but I don't really want to end up with something wrong with my body or something." Hotaru said, then again in retrospect, her body was far from being normal at this point.

"Don't worry... The procedure is simple, I've seen Gero do it plenty of times. But we have to hurry, I can sense Gero heading towards the lab as well as a few others." Gerome said, quickly stopping and making the others dive behind a large boulder when he saw the Z warriors speeding by over the forest and glanced up at them slightly before beginning to move again.

"Why are you trying so hard to help us Gerome? You barely know us." Hotaru spoke up once more as Gerome continued to look ahead, his red eyes locked on the path ahead of them. "You two showed me kindness... You made me realize that my life has purpose and meaning just like the rest of the lives on the planet. And like the other lives on the planet, I want to protect you."

Hotaru could only look at the bio-android in surprise. Yet another selfless soul. She couldn't help but wonder how she was attracting these types of people Satoshi was the first person to show that kind of humility to her and now here was Gerome.

He wasn't even a human and yet at the same time, he was more human than she could ever consider herself to be.

Lost in her thoughts, Hotaru blinked when she found herself all alone, Satoshi and Gerome must have gone ahead of her. A small pout appeared on her face as she started running. "They couldn't even wait for me!" She hissed before blinking when she felt herself being kicked in the side.

"You! I knew installing the fail-safe software in your system was a good idea!" Picking herself up, Hotaru glared when she spotted Dr. Gero standing in front of her.

"Forget it old man, I'm not listening to you anymore, and nothing you do or say is going to change my mind!" Hotaru clenched her fists, ready to fight the older man as a smirk appeared on his face.

"That little insolent streak is about to end." He said, holding out his one good hand and made a strange sound wave emanate from the node on his palm.

Hotaru glared at him and was rushing to punch him before blinking when she felt something within her change. _"Why am I fighting Gero? He isn't the enemy. Goku and anyone on his side are the enemies."_

The moment that thought went through Hotaru's mind, she stood from her attack position, her eyes now duller than they were before. "What are your orders Dr. Gero?" She asked in a slightly more monotone voice.

"Excellent. I knew this fail-safe programming would come in handy. For now, I know that you're with that failure Gerome and Satoshi, I want you to stay with them for the moment, don't arouse suspicion. There are also some unwanted pests beginning to head for my laboratory. I want you to exterminate them for me." Gero said with a sinister smirk before hearing what sounded like Satoshi calling out to Hotaru.

"Hotaru! Hey Hotaru! We're supposed to stay together!"

"Don't let me down." Gero said before heading off in a different direction of the forest as Hotaru only nodded and began walking towards Satoshi. _"Don't worry Dr. Gero. I won't let you down."_ Was the only thought that went through her mind.


	13. Chapter 12

Tsukimi's eyes were firmly fixated on the stubborn prince flying in front of her, she was completely determined to help Trunks, she knew the pain of losing a father all too well and she would be damned if she were to let it happen to someone she cared so much for.

"So are you two going to follow me the whole way there? Just as long as you both don't get between me and my prey, I don't care." Vegeta still spoke in that arrogant tone that made Tsukimi clench her fists.

"Why can't you just wait until Goku is feeling better? If you go up against those androids on your own you'll be walking into a slaughter! I know what I'm telling you!" Trunks yelled back at his father but all of his pleads seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"Hmph. That fool would only succeed in getting himself defeated. If anyone is to kill Kakarot, it is going to be me! If you two want to keep following me just stay out of my way or you'll both be next on my list!" Vegeta growled once more as he continued to fly, only making his son growl in agitation.

"Ugh! It's like talking to a brick wall!" Tsukimi couldn't help herself from glaring at the man in front of her, she just couldn't wrap her head around the way Vegeta was acting an it was beginning to wear on her nerves.

_"He's such an arrogant ass! I can't believe he's actually stupid enough to throw away his life for the sake of this stupid super saiyan power trip he's on!"_ Those were the only thoughts going through Tsukimi's mind, though, in the back of her mind, she was wondering if her friends needed her help before shrugging the thought off.

_"They're probably doing just fine without me."_

* * *

"This is the place alright. But how are we going to get in?" Satoshi asked as the three had arrived in front of Gero's lab, staring at the large metal doors in front of them.

"How did you get in the first time?" Gero asked as Satoshi chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I kinda just punched in a bunch of random numbers, I don't remember them though."

"Step aside." Gerome let out a small sigh as he started punching in the pass-code to open the doors and watched as they opened in front of them before quickly getting in and shutting the door back again.

"We need to hurry and find those cards." The bio-android said to himself, his red eyes scanning over the laboratory, nothing but bad memories and pain could he associate with this place.

"The cards? What are you talking about?" Satoshi asked in the midst of his looking around the laboratory, it was as he was looking that a small glint of light caught Gerome's eye and walking towards the containment pods that held the androids in question, he saw that the two cards were lying on the floor but they still seemed to be completely operational from his perspective.

"These cards." He finished, picking the cards up and holding them to the two in front of him. "Use them to leave now."

"Leave? What are you talking about? We can't leave now." Satoshi picked up one of the cards Gerome was holding before looking around it a bit. "I don't even know how we got here in the first place to be honest."

"If you used those cards to get here then you can use then to get out of here. Things are only going to get more dangerous from her on. And I don't want you to get caught in the crossfires of what's to come. Just please take my advice and leave before it's too late." Gerome said, looking from Satoshi to Hotaru, but then took notice of the change in the girl's expression.

Her eyes seemed almost lifeless in a way, completely devoid of all emotion or any sign of having a living soul inside of her.

"But the thing is, we don't even know how to use these cards. Last I remember we were going to play some arcade game back home and we just ended up here after we put the cards in. We don't know how to get back even if we wanted to." Satoshi explained as he looked at the reflective card in his hand with a slightly confused look but shrugged and shoved the card into his pocket as Hotaru did the same with hers.

"Besides, we can't go back until we find a way to bring you back with us Gerome." Gerome looked back at the black-haired boy, completely puzzled by the kind smile the boy was showing him.

"...You still want to bring me with you?" He managed to ask after the initial shock had worn off. Not in the whole of his life had someone ever offered him a way out like this. Actually treated him with kindness...

"Of course we do, we can't leave you here to be forced to do things you don't want to bey Gero. The only other choice would be for you to come with us." Satoshi finished with the same kind smile still spread across his features, making Gerome only blink slightly.

The concept of completely unconditional kindness was still so foreign to him that he didn't know how to respond. But this was why he wanted to make sure these two were safe and left this place before they could get hurt.

Gerome was going to give him an answer, but just before he could open his mouth, he could hear the dark chuckle of Dr. Gero resonating within his mind and looked over his shoulder, his eyes went wide when he saw that the one-armed Gero was standing in the doorway as the silver doors opened to let him in.

"Excellent work Hotaru, bringing your unruly friend here will earn you a reward later. As for this reject, you can take care of him for me." Both Satoshi and Gerome's eyes were wide when they saw the brunette girl walk towards the doctor with a small smirk.

"Of course Dr. Gero. Taking care of these two won't be too much of a problem." Satoshi's eyes only widened further as he took a couple of cautious steps towards his friend. "Hotaru what the hell are you doing?! Why are you listening to him?!"

"That's none of your business Satoshi, since when has anything I've done been a concern to you?" Hotaru asked back in a more sharp tone, crossing her arms across her chest with a growl.

"The hell are you talking about? We're best friends! You're my closest friend Hotaru! Of course I'm gonna be worried when you do something like this!" That only made Hotaru grit her teeth and hold her hand out towards Satoshi. "I am sick of listening to you." She said as the same sound that Gero had used on her began to come from the node on her palm.

"Hotaru you need to snap out of thi-" Satoshi stopped mid sentence, his eyes widening slightly before a smirk appeared on his face and he turned to face Gerome.

"Now you two, I want you to deal with that unwanted pest while I awaken the others." Dr. Gero spoke in a simple tone as he began walking towards the containment units, making the two smirk slightly as they looked at Gerome.

"That won't be a problem, Dr. Gero." Gerome's eyes could only narrow, he knew that trying to talk them out of fighting with him would be useless, those two were now completely being controlled this time.

He got into a quick defensive stance, staring back at the two closely, just waiting to see who would be the first to make a move. He couldn't avoid fighting with them, and though he didn't want to fight them, he was more concerned over his own well being. It was two against one, and though his power had recovered, he didn't know if he could take them both at once.

_"There has to be something I can do, I can't get to Gero from here, but I don't want to have to fight these two."_ Gerome was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Satoshi appear behind him.

"You know, you should really keep your mind on your opponents instead of daydreaming." Finishing with a smirk, the raven-haired boy roughly kicked Gerome towards Hotaru who only countered with a punch to the bio-android's stomach.

"And here I was hoping you would put up more of a fight Gerome? What's wrong? Afraid of hurting us?" The brunette was wearing a sinister smirk as she then kicked Gerome in the face, knocking him to the steel doors.

Gerome could only narrow his eyes slightly at the two, he couldn't fight the both of them off at once, and the fact that they lacked a sense of pain with their new android forms only made things harder for him.

* * *

_"Oh man! What the hell should I do?! I don't even remember how I got in here and now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here!"_ Yuuki was hiding behind Gerome's broken containment unit in the far corner of the laboratory, he had arrived in the lab before the three androids did but still found it a mystery how he even got into the lab without having to open the doors in the first place.

_"Okay think Yuuki, that's not important right now, what is important is that I have to stop those two from killing that guy and stop Gero from activating 17 and 18!"_ The black-haired boy was having a mental battle with himself, he couldn't find the strength to show himself when he knew full-well that it would lead to a fight with two of his friends and that was the last thing that he wanted.

He just continued to watch from behind the broken containment unit as Gerome played on the defense, merely defending against the attacks the two sent his way but wasn't able to avoid all of them and found himself being blasted by Satoshi with a wave of energy from his hand and slammed roughly against the steel doors once again.

"Why aren't you fighting back Gerome? I already said we don't feel any pain, are you holding back?" Hotaru spoke with an audible growl in her voice, if there was one thing Yuuki knew about this girl, it was that she hated it when someone was holding back on her.

She always saw it as someone admitting of her being too weak to go all-out against.

"I said fight back!" She hissed, throwing another punch to Gerome, who caught her punch in his hand and began picking himself up as he then started trying to fire a power blast at Gero, only to have Satoshi catch the blast in his hand before it could hit the old scientist.

"Nice try, but we're your opponents, not Gero." The raven-haired boy smirked, crushing the small energy ball in his hand and it was at that moment that Yuuki stepped out from behind the containment unit. "Stop this right now!"

That caused all eyes to turn on him, Satoshi looking at the boy with a slightly amused smirk. "Yuuki, it's been a while little buddy, not gonna ask how you got in here but I'd suggest getting out of here before you end up getting hurt."

"Forget it! I don't know what Gero did to you two but I'm not gonna sit by and let you beat up on this guy! And you! I'm not gonna let you activate those androids!" Yuuki yelled as he started charging towards Dr. Gero who only smirked as Satoshi appeared in front of him, catching the boy's fist in his hand before roughly kneeing Yuuki in the stomach.

Leaving the boy to clench his stomach and cough at the feeling of losing all the air in his body and began gasping for breath. Gerome was about to rush towards him but only found himself being roughly kicked in the side by Hotaru until he slammed into the steel doors. "Let me tell you something Gerome. Satoshi may have pitied you, but I don't. I honestly don't care about you, I don't care about anyone other than myself, and that's the only way you should act. No one ever raised a hand to help me, so why should I do any different?" Her ice blue eyes were glaring at the purple bio-android, who tried to remove her leg from crushing down on his throat, only to cough and fall to the ground as she let him go.

"Excellent work my creations. Take care of them while I activate these other two.' Gero said with a smirk as he looked down at the two who were lying on the ground. The two androids only looking down at them with sadistic smirks spreading over their faces.

"You... You can't do this!" Yuuki had managed to pick himself up, still panting softly from the air returning to his lungs. "You two are stronger than this! You can do the right thing! Take this guy down and stop the horrible future you're trying to create! Think about what you're doing! The innocent lives that will be lost! Don't they matter to you two at all?!" Yuuki yelled at the two, only to look over his shoulder, his eyes widening when he saw Android 17 emerge from his containment unit.

"Why should we? Those people don't care about us? They wouldn't lift a hand to help us, the only person you can really look out for is yourself Yuuki. If you were smart, then you'd already know that. Creating connections and bonds with people only lead to pain." Hotaru spoke through gritted teeth, clenching her fist at her side as Yuuki only looked at her with a confused look. He could tell that something else was bothering her other than this but didn't know what it could be.

"You don't have to do this, you two are good people. You wouldn't want to mindlessly hurt people." Yuuki continued to try to reason with them, he was confident that he would be able to get through to them with just some reasoning.

"It's no use..." Gerome had begun picking himself up, panting slightly as well. "The programming that Gero implanted in their minds is too strong.. We can't get them back this way." As much as he hated having to admit that, he was right, their minds were clouded and corrupted with only the desire to kill and do whatever they want filling them.

"As your first order, I want you to finish off those little pests over there, these two will need to conserve their energy for when Goku's pesky little friends arrive here." Dr. Gero said with a sadistic smirk as the raven-haired teenager looked at the two injured warriors, a small smirk spreading over his face as Yuuki's eyes widened.

_"We're completely screwed..."_

* * *

"Oh man this is bad! We have to get in there!" Mamoru growled, trying to punch the steel doors and wincing at how hard the doors had hurt his hand.

"We can't get in that way dumb ass! But I feel Yuuki in there! If those androids are activated then he's royally up the creek without a paddle!" Kasumi said through gritted teeth, only to look over her shoulder when she saw Tsukimi fly over with Trunks and Vegeta behind her.

"Is this where Gero's lab is?" The bow-wearing girl asked, only to glance around at the group. Immediately noticing that Yuuki was missing. "Where's Yuuki? Why isn't he with you guys?" She asked, only for Kasumi to glance back at the door. "We're not sure how but he's in there. And if we don't get him out he's done for."

"What?!" Tsukimi quickly rushed towards the door and started pounding on it with her fists. "Yuuki! Yuuki answer me! Are you in there? Please answer me!" She yelled, only for her eyes to widen when she felt the boy's power dropping like a stone into a body of water.

"Answer me damn it!" She yelled once more, still hitting the door with her fists for Kasumi and Kimiko to walk over to her and stop her. "Hey! Relax girl, I'm sure he's fine!"

"You shouldn't get so upset, we're all worried for him Tsukimi." Kimiko said but was the first to notice the look she had in her eyes, it appeared as if she were completely terrified, her eyes were wide and already forming small tears at the corners.

_"It's just like my dream... It's really going to happen, he's gonna die!"_ That was the only thought that went through Tsukimi's minds as the images of her nightmares began to play back in her mind.

* * *

_"Why don't you just kill me?!" Once again she found herself in that empty abyss of darkness, unable to see anything around her, but could head the screams of her friends before they could be tragically cut short._

_"Please... Make it stop! I want it to stop!" She yelled, holding her head, squeezing her teary eyes shut, the feeling of being powerless, completely helpless and losing someone she cared for deeply as a result was eating away at her heart and mind like a starved rat._

_"GUAAAHH!" Her eyes shot open, trying to look around the area when that scream had filled her eardrums. "Yuuki?! Is that you?!" She called, frantically looking around but only seeing nothing but pitch black all around her._

_Taking a couple of cautious steps forward, Tsukimi tried to keep her guard up,, listening around as if expecting to hear another scream resonate within her mind._

_Feeling something under her foot, she suddenly looked down, taking a small step back, her eyes widening at what she was able to see on the ground;_

_"Y...Yuuki..." A painful lump formed in her throat, making it hard for her to breath. Her already-bloodshot eyes were overflowing with fresh tears at the horrific sight in front of her._

_Yuuki. Lying on the ground, blood pooling around him and a large wound through his chest being the cause of his demise._

_"No... This isn't happening... This isn't happening!" She screamed, only backing away from her dead friend's corpse, covering her mouth with her hand, trying to stop any noise from escaping her throat._

_"Yuuki..."_

* * *

"Tsukimi! Snap out of it!" Kasumi was holding Tsukimi's shoulders, looking at her with a slightly concerned look as Tsukimi opened her eyes, seemingly getting a hold of herself for the moment.

"Sorry... I'm alright. Really. You can let me go now Kasumi." Tsukimi brushed the tanned girl's hands off of her before looking to Vegeta. "I'm sick of waiting, go ahead and bust the door down already so we can see what we're dealing with." she was talking with a more cold tone than before.

Only leaving Kasumi to look back at her friend and tried to push her concerns aside but she knew in her heart that something was wrong. _"This is messed up. I've known Tsukimi since the fourth grade and never once have I seen her look like that. Like she just saw her worst nightmare."_

"Is everything alright Kasumi?" The tanned girl looked over her shoulder at Kimiko who had placed her hand on her shoulder, looking at Kasumi with a concerned expression of her own. "Yep, perfectly fine. Come on we better move before Vegeta decides to blow us down with the door." She wore a toothy grin as she began walking out of the way of the saiyan prince. Kimiko only following with a concerned expression of her own.

"If you say so..."

"I'm telling you we should get out of here before they get out! We have to at least wait until Goku wakes up!" Trunks was trying to convince his father not to blow the doors down but the saiyan prince wouldn't hear of it.

"And what? Wait for that clown to take all of the fun for himself? Why go to the trouble when you have an even more powerful super saiyan right in front of you!" Holding out his hand, Vegeta fired a powerful energy blast from his palm, hitting the steel doors and causing them to fall into the laboratory in a big cloud of smoke.

Tsukimi's eyes narrowed slightly, she was still nervous, that much Kasumi could tell just from looking at her, but she was keeping her concerns to herself.

_"Come on Yuuki, run out of there, walk out, just show me you're alive..."_ That was the only thing she was worried about, she needed to know if Yuuki was alive or not.

As the smoke settled, the Z warrior's eyes widened at the sight. Both Androids 17 and 18 were active, and not only them, but Satoshi and Hotaru were standing in front of both Yuuki and Gerome, who were lying on the ground, completely unconscious and beaten.

"I-It's them! Those are the androids from my time!" Trunks fists were clenched, sending a sharp glare to the two taller androids.

All of the kids were looking at the two in shock. Not only did they find their friends that they had bee searching for and came to the past for, but they had turned to the dark side.

"Satoshi..." Akihiko's eyes were wide just like the others. His fun-loving cousin, the cousin whom he never knew to ever lay a hand on anyone had done something so brutal.

"Yuuki! W-What did you do to him! Answer me right now! What the hell did you do to him?!" Tsukimi yelled, already wanting to charge forward and attack the two but was held back by Kasumi and Mamoru, the two holding her arms back.

"Tsukimi! Take it easy! He's not dead! We can feel his power level!" Kasumi yelled, only for Satoshi to direct his attention to the unconscious two on the ground.

He leaned down, picking up Yuuki by the back of his shirt and then swiftly tossed him towards the three, Tsukimi was quick to catch the unconscious boy in his arms and looked at him with a worried expression. "Yuuki! Come on Yuuki wake up!" She frantically looked over him, seeing a small amount of blood escaping the corner of his mouth.

She could tell that from his breathing that a few of his ribs were broken, his breathing shallow and ragged and he was obviously in pain. _"At least he's alive..."_ She breathed a small sigh of relief at that, just the fact that he was breathing alone was enough to bring her comfort but she knew that she had to get him help.

"Satoshi. We've always been cool, tell me the truth. Were you the one who did this to Yuuki?" Mamoru took a step forward, looking at the blue-eyed boy with accusing eyes and a visible glare.

Only watching as said boy leaned down, picking up Gerome by the back of his neck and tossed him towards Mamoru who caught him in his arms. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. All depends on what you're gonna do about it." He had a small smirk on his face, his eyes were completely devoid of any signs of remorse or regret over what he had done.

Mamoru then directed his eyes towards Gerome, his eyes widening slightly at how much he resembled Cell. "W-Who is this guy?" He asked, looking back at Satoshi who breathed out a sigh. "Used to be a friend but ended up getting in our way. He's a nag like the rest of you so you'll probably get along." He said, beginning to walk towards Kimiko.

_"Okay this can't be a coincidence, this guy looks like a purple version of Cell!... Is he on our side? Should we trust him?"_ Mamoru thought to himself, for the moment he decided to go along with what Satoshi said and keep him around, best case scenario- he knew what happened to Satoshi and Hotaru to make them change so much.

_"What the hell happened to them? They aren't themselves. Satoshi never acted like this and Hotaru... Looks like a different person. Just what went on while we were gone?"_ Tsukimi couldn't help but wonder, though she was still angry at them for hurting Yuuki like this, she understood that there had to be another reason for what was going on.

Setting Yuuki down, Tsukimi's eyes narrowed as she began walking towards Hotaru. She was sure she wasn't going to get any answers out of Satoshi so she figured that there was no harm in trying. "Hotaru! What the hell is going on? Why are you acting like this? And why did you and Satoshi beat up Yuuki?!" She yelled, she was concerned and angry all at the same time, and her nerves were already frazzled before this mess.

The brunette just glanced back at her, giving her a small glare but no answer. Rather just giving her a look of annoyance and disgust.

"Answer me! Why the hell did you two-" Tsukimi stopped mid-sentence, only looking down and coughing as Hotaru had shoved her fist roughly to the other girl's stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

"Sorry, but we don't take orders from anyone anymore. Including you Tsukimi. We can do whatever we want, we no longer have a sense of pain. Don't you see? We're finally free, we can do whatever we want and destroy whomever is in our path. And let me tell you something else." Tsukimi looked up from her coughing, only to see Hotaru's face right in front of hers. Her ice blue eyes were peering into her own, showing no sense of remorse or regret for what they had done.

"Get in our way, and we'll kill you too." Tsukimi could only watch the girl turn away from her and start walking towards Satoshi. She continued to hold her stomach, waiting for it to re-inflate and coughing slightly. _"Something's seriously wrong here, what the hell happened to them?"_

"Tsukimi! You alright girl? Hey! Hotaru! You can't just-" Tsukimi grabbed Kasumi's hand as she straightened herself up. "It's fine Kasumi, just let it go."

"Fuck that! The bitch goes and-"

"I said it's fine! Besides, something's going on with them. I don't know what though but they're not themselves, we can't just turn our backs on them. They're our friends." Tsukimi stood up, still looking back at Hotaru with a small glare, she could feel there was another force at work but the moment she remembered Yuuki, she went back over to the younger boy.

"Satoshi. Tell me what went on in that laboratory right now." Akihiko had walked over to Satoshi, the older boy only chuckling slightly. "You sure you wanna know Aki? We were gonna finish those two off but 17 over there got first dibs." He finished with a sigh. "Sucks though, we were looking forward to finishing them off."

Akihiko's eyes narrowed, he just couldn't understand it. His cousin was such a kind person, the type of person who could be everyone's friend and never be an enemy to anyone. But to see this sort of change in his personality...

He knew something else had to be at work here.

His eyes trailed towards Satoshi, watching as his cousin strolled towards Kimiko, whom was looking at Yuuki and Gerome with a concerned expression. "We need to get some senzu beans quickly." She spoke to herself, only looking up when she saw Satoshi behind her.

Her ebony eyes were initially widened by a small amount, only to relax when he saw a small smile spread over Satoshi's face.

"Satoshi... Is there something you wanted?" She asked cautiously, getting up from her kneeling position next to Yuuki to face the boy in front of her.

A blush stained her fair cheeks when Satoshi gently placed his hand upon one of them. "You know, just because I'm an android now doesn't mean I'm a completely different machine. No matter what happens Kimiko, you can count on me to protect you. All you have to do is call." His tone was sincere, his sapphire blue eyes softened as he gazed at the girl in front of him.

"Whenever you need me, just give me a call." He gently removed his hand from Kimiko's cheek, walking past her in a calm manner, leaving Kimiko with a blush staining her face, her heart beginning to race slightly.

Akihiko, whom was watching the entire event only clenched his fist slightly, glaring daggers at his cousin. This wasn't a new discovery to him. For a long time, he had known that his cousin harbored feelings for Kimiko, a fact that often caused strife between the two.

But never had he seen Satoshi openly flirt with her in front of him like that. Sure there had been a few subtle moments where he would flirt slightly but nothing like this had ever occurred in front of him before, and needless to say, he was not happy about it.

Upon hearing what sounded like a small growl, Akihiko turned to his left side, looking at Hotaru, who was clearly angry. Glaring sharply and in Kimiko's direction.

Her pale fists clenched at her sides, one of them opening and beginning to charge an energy blast, ready to fire it directly at Kimiko.

Kimiko on the other hand, went back to checking on both Yuuki and Gerome, seeing the extent of their injuries and her mind focused completely on helping them, or at least trying to.

"You're not activating another androids, so long as I'm alive to stop you!" All of the kids turned to Trunks, Mamoru quickly picked up Yuuki and Kasumi grabbed Gerome.

"You guys better haul ass! This place is gonna blow!" Kasumi called, seeing Trunks quickly turn into a super saiyan and fire a powerful attack into the laboratory, causing all of the remaining warriors to rush out of the cave to avoid the attack.

"HIT THE DECK!" They all had managed to escape the cave in time, none of them were injured from the blast.

"Yo! Next time you wanna do that give us some warning!" Kasumi yelled before looking down at Gerome. "Hey, why are we keeping this guy around? Do we even know if he's on our side?"

"I think that we can trust him. I don't sense any malicious intent from him." Kimiko spoke up, looking at Gerome and making Kasumi sigh. "Kimiko, you really are too pure for your own good."

"You little fool. Why did you even waste your breath?" Vegeta gave Trunks a glare, speaking in a condescending tone.

"It's more than what you did!"

"Oh really? Observe." Turning to the smoke cloud left behind by the large explosion, the other Z warriors looked in shock. All of the androids were perfectly fine, without a single scratch on them.

"Hey, thanks for that." Satoshi had held a force field around himself and Hotaru, solely for the purpose of defending her from the blast.

"No problem, but looks like the lab is gone now. Gotta admit, he's got some skill." Satoshi chuckled, looking at Trunks before directing his attention towards the rest of his former friends, only smirking at the glare his younger cousin was giving him.

"So, who are you two anyway? Did the old man create new androids after us?" 18 looked at the two, only for Hotaru to give her a small glare before crossing her arms. "I don't think that's any of your business Blondie."

"Well someone's touchy." 18's eyes narrowed as she tossed Android 16's containment capsule down and began opening it to activate the large android.

Hotaru then looked back at the others, giving Kimiko the same glare from earlier and clenching her fist slightly. _"You got lucky this time you little bitch."_

"So Satoshi, what are we gonna do now?" Hotaru just gave an unimpressed glance at the large green-clad Android as he awoke and stepped out of his containment capsule.

"Hmm well I guess sticking with these guys for right now. We got nothing better to do." Satoshi replied with a shrug, only looking over his shoulder as he saw Akihiko appear behind him.

"Satoshi, you know perfectly well that you aren't the type of person to hurt innocent people. Why are you doing this?" Akihiko only earned a chuckle from the blue-eyed boy as he turned towards him.

"You don't get it do you. This is liberating, being completely invincible! We can do whatever we want now and no one can stop us." He finished with a smirk.

"You are free to do as you wish. But I am only going to issue this warning to you once; stay away from Kimiko. Until you revert back to your old self, I am not going to let her near you." Akihiko had a visible glare and a slight growl in his voice as he spoke.

"I think that's for Kimiko to decide on her own, don't you think Aki?" Satoshi smirked, speaking in a slight taunting tone as he began flying past Akihiko. "Come on Hotaru, we're out of here."

Hotaru was still glaring daggers at Kimiko, who only looked back at her and flinched slightly at the cold glare she was being given, watching as the brunette began flying after Satoshi and the other androids.

_"Satoshi. I don't know what Dr. Gero has some to you but I cannot let you stay on this path. You are not an evil person."_ Akihiko watched after Satoshi for a moment, while he still felt a small sense of anger towards his cousin he was mostly met with concern and confusion considering his radical change in personality.

* * *

"Yuuki..." Tsukimi had set Yuuki's injured body down on a flat rock formation, only beginning to look over the extent of his injuries. He was still breathing, that was a good sign in her book.

Breathing meant that he was still alive, and that was all she cared about. _"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to protect you Yuuki... I should've been with you."_ She was mentally kicking herself for leaving Yuuki to go off on his own because of her feelings for Trunks.

A couple of small tears formed in the corners of her eyes, the images from her night terrors continued to haunt her, making her worry even more, and her nerves becoming more frazzled as she clenched her fists slightly.

"Hey, don't worry. He'll be alright once we get a senzu bean into him." Tsukimi looked over her shoulder when she saw Kasumi place a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile.

"You're right. But we have to hurry, we don't know how bad of a beating he had to endure. " Tsukimi let out a sigh but was feeling a little better with Kasumi reassuring her.

"You needn't worry anymore Tsukimi." Kimiko flew over, smiling softly as she held out a small bag of senzu beans. "The hell did you get Senzu beans from Kimiko?" Kasumi asked, blinking in surprise as she picked up the bag.

"Well, Korin's tower still exists in Trunks' time line. I thought that we would need them so I payed Korin a little visit, he really seemed to like the company and is a very sweet man...well cat." Kimiko smiled.

"Good, but how are we supposed to give it to Yuuki? He's unconscious and I don't think he can chew." Tsukimi said, picking up one of the beans from the bag.

"Well there's one way~ Mouth-to mouth." Kasumi said with a devilish smirk, causing Tsukimi's face to turn a light shade of red.

She looked down at the bean, the color in her cheeks not showing and signs of fading. "Well I guess if it's the only way but this isn't a kiss, I'm just giving him mouth-to-mouth, like CPR. It doesn't count as a kiss!" She gave Kasumi a warning glare as the tanned girl chuckled slightly and shrugged. "Yeah sure whatever you say~"

"Are you sure you can do this Tsukimi? I mean... This is pretty personal." Kimiko had a light blush on her cheeks as well, though her mind was stuck on Satoshi and Hotaru more than this.

Tsukimi took a small breath before tossing the bean into her mouth and began chewing. "This is partly my fault anyway, I can at least do something for him... Just make sure no one's watching okay?" she asked with an even brighter blush before seeing her two friends standing in front of her, blocking her and Yuuki from the others field of vision.

"Just hurry up and kiss the boy so we can go kick butt and I can blackmail you later with this." Kasumi smirked, only earning a glare from the bow-wearing girl as she glanced down as Yuuki's unconscious body.

_"Why is my heart pounding so much? This is just Yuuki. It's not like I'm kissing Trunks or anything, it's to save his life!"_ She thought with her blush only getting brighter as she leaned down towards Yuuki, the pounding of her heart only getting louder in her ears the closer she got to the boy's lips.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, their lips met, making Tsukimi's heart pound even harder as she used her tongue to push the bean into Yuuki's mouth and rubbed his throat to help him swallow it.

"There." She said, panting faintly and only blinking when she saw that Kimiko was looking with a bright blush and her hands covering her eyes. "I-I didn't see anything!"

"Oh girl you are so bad~" Kasumi had that same devilish smirk on her face, watching Tsukimi get up from her kneeling position and wipe her mouth. "I only did it to save his life, it's not like it's a real kiss." she said stubbornly, glancing back down at Yuuki and smiling softly at how his wounds had vanished, his breathing getting easier.

_"Thank God, he's safe now."_

"Hey guys, what're we gonna do with this guy here?" Mamoru asked, pointing at where he had set Gerome down. "I mean he looks like C-E-L-L, what if he isn't on our side?"

"He's got a point, I mean just look at him, he probably helped kick Yuuki's ass along with Satoshi and Hotaru." Kasumi crossed her arms as she looked down at the purple bio-android.

"I told you before that I don't sense any malicious intent from him. My heart is telling me that we can trust him. And besides if he weren't on our side then we know how strong he is if Satoshi and Hotaru were able to do this to him." Kimiko objected, kneeling down to Gerome and picking up the bag of senzu beans.

"We don't even know for sure if Satoshi and Hotaru did do this but I still don't trust him. He just doesn't sit right with me." Tsukimi said, crossing her arms as well. The horrific nightmares haunting her left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Well I believe we can trust him. We can't just leave him there injured like this, he could die and I will not stand for it." Kimiko took a bean out of the bag and gently supported Gerome's head, only blinking when he began to stir slightly, slowly opening his red eyes and looking up at Kimiko with a confused look.

"I see you're awake now. Don't worry we won't hurt you. I just want to help heal your injuries. Can you open your mouth for me?" Kimiko asked in a kind tone, like a mother trying to give medicine to her child and held the bean in her hand.

The others were all looking at Gerome carefully, just waiting to see if he would attack or not and keeping their guards up.

After looking around for a moment, Gerome slowly opened his mouth, allowing Kimiko to place the bean inside and let him eat it. "There you are, you should be feeling better soon." She said with a soft smile.

"...Why are you helping me?" He asked, his voice still slightly weak as he waited for the bean to kick in.

"Because you were injured and needed help. I couldn't just leave you there to die. You're a living being like we are and you deserve to be treated with kindness." Kimiko smiled back at the bio-android. Only to have him look back at her with slight surprise on his features.

This was twice now... The second time he had been shown unconditional kindness by a complete stranger.

"Alright dude, tell us right now. Did you kick our friend's ass yes or no and answer quickly before I get pissed!" Mamoru hissed at the bio-android, only to have Kimiko stand in front of him.

"We are not going to interrogate him like corrupted police officers! There is a more polite and calm way to get information Mamoru, now I suggest we let him get some air first. He cannot be comfortable with us crowding around him like this." She said in a more stern and scolding tone of voice, making the others take a step back.

"Fine, but one funny move and he's history!" Mamoru said, only for Kimiko to smile back at Gerome. "I'm very sorry about that. My friends mean well, but due to recent events... We're all a little irritable." She glanced down slightly, a more sad look in her eyes.

Gerome could only look back at the girl in front of him, he just could not wrap his mind around the fact that someone- a complete stranger no less- had helped him once again. But now wasn't the time to go into shock.

"...Gerome." He spoke up, his injuries healing before his eyes. "My name is Gerome." He looked back up at Kimiko who smiled back down at him.

"My name is Kimiko. Kimiko Shuurei, it's a pleasure to meet you Gerome." she answered with the same kind smile.

_"I still don't trust him."_ Tsukimi had her arms crossed, looking at Gerome with accusing eyes. He resembled him too much, she couldn't trust him right off the bat like Kimiko did. Only when she heard Trunks' pained cry did she snap out of her thoughts and looked over her shoulder, seeing Trunks doubled over, holding his stomach that Vegeta had just punched before flying away.

"Trunks!" She rushed to the lavender-haired boy's side, looking at him with a concerned look.

"Please... You have to stop him... He can't win against those androids on his own... Please Tsukimi, stop him from killing himself.." Trunks spoke through gritted teeth from the pain of the punch he had just endured.

Looking after the faint golden trail Vegeta had left as he flew away, Tsukimi clenched her fists slightly, watching the gold fade away and nodding. "Don't worry Trunks, I won't let anything happen to him." And with that, she quickly flew after the saiyan prince, gritting her teeth in anger as she did so.

_"He's so arrogant, pig-headed, stubborn, completely undeserving of the title of a father! But even so, I have to stop Vegeta from getting himself killed, I will not let Trunks go through the pain that I went through! No matter what!"_

* * *

_Okay so there's chapter 12! Sorry for the delay but after this the daily updates will continue at the least a day! Feel free to let me know what you guys think and please take the poll on my profile asking which of my Dragon Ball Heroes characters are your favorites because I really want to know! :3_

_I can't stress that enough please take the poll, you can pick up to 3 choices and I just want to know which of my characters are your favorites! ^^_

_Thanks for reading and stay tuned for chapter 13! ^^_


	14. Chapter 13

_"Ah man, I had a feeling it was gonna rain today." Yuuki breathed out a small sigh, walking down the sidewalk with a plastic bag full of shopping that his mother had asked to do for her in his right hand and his pale blue umbrella in the right, keeping him from getting soaked from the sudden downpour._

_"I better hurry up and get home or I'd end up getting sick like Isamu." The eight-year old mused to himself, letting his eyes trail around at the rainy landscape in front of him._

_A few others were braving the downpour with rain slickers and umbrellas of their own, but most tended to stay indoors away from the weather._

_As he continued to look around, Yuuki's eyes suddenly fixated on what he could tell was Tsukimi running down the same sidewalk but before he could ask her why she was running, the girl had quickly run into Yuuki, knocking him to the ground and sending his umbrella flying out of his hand and into a nearby puddle._

_"Ow... Man that smarts." Yuuki rubbed his lower back before looking ahead and seeing that Tsukimi was starting to get up, her eyes hidden under her bangs. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."_

_He could tell from the way she spoke that her voice was cracking; that she had been crying. Upon closer inspection, he saw that she was wearing a -now soaked- black dress and her hair was down from its usual ponytail._

_"Tsukimi... Are you okay?" Yuuki finally managed to ask, his mind now fixated on the obviously downtrodden girl in front of him._

_She was his source of strength. She was always the strong one. It was just a simple shock to see her so broken down like this._

_After what seemed like an eternity of listening to the raindrops falling, Tsukimi finally spoke. "No... No, I'm not okay." She walked a couple of extra steps towards Yuuki as he clenched the plastic bag in his hand nervously, his cheeks stained with a blush._

_"But what's wro-" Before Yuuki could finish, his eyes widened. Tsukimi had lunged herself towards him, wrapping her arms around him tightly, and clenching his shirt in her small fists._

_"It hurts... It hurts so much...' She spoke, her voice cracking still, as if she were trying to hold herself back from crying._

_Yuuki's face was completely red, his hands trembling slightly, wondering if he should hug her back or not. "What hurts?" He finally managed to ask when he looked down, only to see Tsukimi looking up at him with bloodshot eyes, tears streaming down her face despite the rain coming down on them._

_"M-My Dad died... He's gone forever. I-I didn't even get to say goodbye to him!" Yuuki's eyes widened once more, the moment he heard those words escape her lips, he knew right away what she was going through._

_The pain that still occasionally ate away at his chest. The feeling of losing a loved one, the sort of pain he would never wish on anyone. Even his worst enemy._

_Yuuki then wrapped his arms back around her, keeping her close to him, trying to give her the comfort that she needed right now. "It's alright. I know it hurts now, but everything's gonna be alright."_

_All he could do was listen to the sounds of Tsukimi sobbing, wishing that her father could come back, feeling the pain that he had felt not to long ago._

_He kept his arms firmly around her, not even caring that the rain continued to fall on them._

_She was always there to support him. And now, he wanted to be the one to support her._

* * *

Yuuki let out a small groan, groggily opening his eyes to meet with the blue sky that was over his head. "Man, how long have I been out?" He rubbed his head, a feint blush staining his cheeks when he remembered the dream he just woke up from.

_"Why was I dreaming of back then?"_ As he placed his forehead in his hand, trying to make the blush on his face die down, he looked up as Mamoru and Akihiko walked over to him.

"About time you got up Sleeping Beauty." Mamoru chuckled as Yuuki picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off. "How long have I been out? And where are we?" He asked. The last thing he could remember was being inside of Gero's Lab with Gerome after the beating he had received.

"Where Dr. Gero's laboratory used to stand. Trunks made quick work of the lab while you were unconscious." Akihiko explained briefly.

"Wait, the lab's gone? What about Satoshi and Hotaru?- Oh! What happened to that guy I was with? Is he alright?" Yuuki quickly looked around, only to sigh in relief when he saw Gerome talking to Kimiko. His injuries had seemingly vanished just like his own.

"You know that guy?" Mamoru looked at Yuuki with a confused look, only for Yuuki to nod slightly. "I don't know his name. But he was with Satoshi and Hotaru when they entered the lab. He tried to get them to go home before things got even worse but they refused and started beating on him. The thing is, no matter how much they attacked him, he didn't raise his fists back at them. He didn't hit them even once." Yuuki continued to look over at Gerome. He just had a feeling deep in his heart that Gerome was a good person.

Even if no one else could see it, he could see that Gerome had a good heart and that it was in the right place.

"You sure that he wasn't the one who turned Satoshi and Hotaru against us?" Mamoru crossed his arms, only for Yuuki to shake his head. "No it wasn't him! I don't know what happened but Hotaru used one of those nodes on her hands and it let out this weird noise and then Satoshi just changed for the worse. I think that noise is what must've changed them." Yuuki said, trying to think back before he passed out to see if there were any other bits of information that would be useful to them.

"Unusual sound frequencies.." Akihiko began to ponder that thought. It made sense since his cousin and Hotaru were now part machine but he just didn't know to what extent did they become mechanical.

"But where did Satoshi and Hotaru go anyway?" Yuuki asked, only for Mamoru to sigh. "They went off after the other androids. God-knows why though. We found you and that other guy that's talking to Kimiko before Trunks blew up the lab. Wanna help fill in the blanks as to what went on down there?"

* * *

"Do you feel better now?" Kimiko asked with a small smile. Only for Gerome to glance around his body, his injuries had completely vanished. And in such a short time as well.

"Yes..." He looked at his hands, gripping his fists a couple of times. For the second time he was saved by someone's kindness. His red eyes softened slightly, making him wonder just how long people like this have existed in the world without his knowledge.

During his creation, he was only shown the very worst of humanity. People turning on each other, wars being rages, innocents losing their lives, but despite all of that, he never even considered that there were still selfless people out there. Those with completely pure hearts untainted by the pollution of the modern world.

And standing in front of him was one of those special people.

Looking down at his hands, he tightened his fists, his eyes narrowing, glaring down at them. This was the second time he had let something like this happen. Gero had taken over Satoshi and Hotaru once again, and like the first time, he was too weak to do anything to stop it from happening.

_"Forgive me... I was too weak to save you both again."_

"Is everything alright?" He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Kimiko speak to him and gave her a small nod as he started to get up. "...It would be wise if we didn't see each other again... I only bring misfortune..."

"I don't think that way at all. I can tell that you really must care about Satoshi and Hotaru from the concerned look on your face. You shouldn't worry. They will be alright. I just know it." The short-haired girl gave the bio-android a kind smile.

If only it were as easy as she made it sound though...

"...Things will only get more dangerous from this point. There will be times when your life will be in danger... Are you really prepared to face those kinds of threats?" Upon hearing that, Kimiko's breath hitched slightly.

She knew full-well that this was a dangerous mission. She may not return to her home, she may lose her life, and cause those she cared for so deeply to mourn her loss.

There were times, even now, when she questioned if she should have come along on this endeavor with her friends. She was the weakest of the group, her physical strength was only good at best.

"This is something I have to do... I know that this is dangerous, but they are my friends and all I want is for all of us to go home together. My friends need me, even if I cannot fight as well as they can, I will still try to give it my all when it counts." Despite the confident look she was trying to muster, Gerome could tell that she was nervous.

Her hands were trembling slightly, her knees buckling slightly and her whole body just seemed to be so frail and fragile, as if the slightest touch would cause her to break like a fragile glass figurine of some sort.

"...It takes more courage to admit when you are afraid than it does to fake a smile Kimiko." He spoke, taking a couple of steps away from the girl and was about to fly away.

"Wait!" She said, grabbing his hand and looked deep into his eyes, determination was now reflected in those ebony orbs of hers. A small fire of strength was inside of this girl, she just needed the right care and motivation to make it grow.

"Please. Before you leave, tell me what he did to them. Tell me what Dr. Gero did to make then change so much!" She said in a more determined and confident tone than before, only causing Gerome to avert his red eyes to the path where he could tell that the other androids had gone into.

"He used a strange sound frequency. There is a way to reverse the effects but it will not be an easy process. There is a chance that it may not work either. Do you still wish to know?" He asked, only for Kimiko to nod her head eagerly.

"Please. They are my friends. I have known Satoshi for a while now. He was always such a sweet boy, so happy and full of energy. But for the first time in my life since I had met him... Those eyes, completely devoid of emotion. He was like an empty shell of his former self. I know that Akihiko would want him back more than anything, the two are very close to each other. And I may not have the best relationship with Hotaru but I want us to become better friends so please Gerome. I need to know that there is at least some chance of them coming back home with us." Kimiko slowly released Gerome's hand.

The image of Akihiko's concerned face was burned into her memory, that lone memory was enough to make her chest sting with empathy. She had never seen Akihiko look so worried about someone before, and was hoping that would be the last time.

"...Why do you have such faith in me? You hardly know me, for all you know, I could be tricking you." Gerome spoke up, only to blink slightly when he saw Kimiko smile back at him. "I know that you care about them as much as the rest of us do. You are a good person Gerome. And I know that you will tell me the truth."

Gerome just looked back at her for a moment before turning back around to face her. "...Fine. But this will not be easy. There are blueprints in Gero's secret underground laboratory that isn't too far from here. If we hurry, we could get the blueprints and hopefully find a way to reverse what he did to Satoshi and Hotaru."

* * *

Tsukimi was still hot on Vegeta's trail, even with his super saiyan speed, she was still struggling to keep up with him, her anger and rage giving her all of the strength she needed to stay on his tail.

"Hmph, have to admit, you have impressive speed to be able to keep up with a super saiyan, little girl. But if you're here to try convincing me to let those walking scrap heaps go. You're in for a surprise because no one ignores the presence of a saiyan prince without paying for it dearly." Vegeta said with a rather cocky tone in his voice. But with every word he spoke was another stab towards Tsukimi's already worn-out temper to continue to fuel her actions.

_"He's pig-headed. Stubborn, doesn't care about his family, and completely immature!"_ Those were the only thoughts that went through her mind at the moment, her own father was the exact opposite of the man in front of her.

And just thinking about how this man, the saiyan prince, could father a child and then just not care about him at all, not care about his own flesh and blood made her own blood boil.

He was basically taking her definition of an ideal father and slapping her in the face with the opposite.

"You just don't understand! If you go and try to fight those two, you will just end up getting your ass kicked or killed! Why are you so damned hard-headed?!" She yelled back at the saiyan prince, her temper finally releasing itself in one fall swoop.

Only to blink when she saw the prince stop and turn around to face her. "You should watch who you're mouthing off to girl. It's obvious that you weren't raised to respect your elders but I would be more than willing to give you a lesson." His growled, already showing that he was obviously not happy with the way he was being spoken to.

"And how in the hell would you know anything about child-rearing?! Have you ever held your son even once since he was born?!" Tsukimi yelled back, clenching her fists at her sides tightly.

"Like I said before, the child and that woman are nothing but obstacles that get in the way of my own goals." That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Causing Tsukimi to crack her knuckles.

"Alright then. I'm sick of trying to talk to you. If you're in such a damned hurry to get your ass kick. Why not let me do it?" She glared back at the saiyan prince, only earning a hearty laugh from him.

"Like I have time to waste with some child. I have worthier opponents to destroy." He smirked, only to see Tsukimi fire a warning energy blast at him that was easily swatted away with the flick of his wrist.

"If I win, you agree not to go up against those androids on your own. But if you win, I'll back off. Deal?" She growled, floating in a defensive stance and only earning an amused chuckle from the prince.

"This should be over quickly." He flared his power, causing the golden aura around him to glow even more brightly. But that didn't intimidate Tsukimi, with the clench of her fist, she began charging towards Vegeta with a punch.

_"I have to keep him distracted long enough until Trunks and the others get here!"_

* * *

"What the hell is Tsukimi thinking?! Going after Vegeta all by herself, who knows what he could be doing to her!" Yuuki and the rest of his friends were all flying in the direction they had spotted Tsukimi chasing Vegeta in.

"You know Tsukimi. She's been giving Vegeta the evil eye for a while now, I think she just wanted an excuse to punch him in the face for the hell of it." Kasumi said in a more casual tone with a small shrug.

"But Vegeta's a super saiyan now! There's no way she can beat him!" Yuuki was still speaking in a panicked tone. His mind was abuzz with all the different things Vegeta could be doing to harm Tsukimi.

"Look, Tsukimi's the strongest girl we've ever met. There's no way she's gonna let someone like Vegeta beat her without a fight so just chill out a bit man. Besides, we have bigger problems than Tsukimi's beef with Vegeta." Mamoru spoke up, only for Akihiko to nod slightly.

"We have to figure out a way to counter the sound frequencies Gero had used on Satoshi and Hotaru before confronting them again." Akihiko narrows his eyes slightly. Though he was angry at his cousin for his flirting earlier, he wasn't sure if that was the real Satoshi speaking or if it was the fabricated personality Gero had created for him speaking.

"Wait up everyone!" Looking over their shoulders, the others spotted Kimiko flying over with Gerome by her side. "We know how to get Satoshi and Hotaru back to normal!" She said in a more excited tone of voice.

"...I already explained that it may not work. But in Gero's underground Laboratory, there were blueprints he was using while changing those two into androids, those may hold the key to countering the sound frequencies that he used on them." Gerome spoke, looking straight ahead at the path he was on.

"That's great! But how are we supposed to find Gero's lab?" Yuuki asked as he continued to fly.

"...I know where the Laboratory is, but I would need some help. Since they are your friends, one of you will have to come with Kimiko and I to the lab." Gerome glanced around at the other four.

Kasumi quickly looked away nonchalantly and continued to fly, Mamoru doing the same thing until Akihiko let out a small sigh and slowed his pace down to meet with Gerome and Kimiko. "I trust you three will be able to handle Tsukimi on your own?"

"Yeah don't worry. You three just head to Gero's lab, the quicker we change those two back to normal, the better." Kasumi said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Be careful you guys. If you run into any of the androids just call us for help and we'll be right there." Yuuki said, only for Akihiko and Kimiko to nod slightly before beginning to fly into a different direction, leaving Yuuki, Kasumi, and Mamoru continuing onwards.

"why the hell are we trusting that guy? He looks like freaking Cell! Except it's purple instead of green! How do we know he isn't just trying to lure us into a trap or something?" Kasumi let out an exalted sigh.

"We can trust him. I can tell that deep down, he's a good person. Besides, Kimiko's a good judge of character too. She wouldn't just go and trust anyone. And even if he was working for someone, who would it be? Gero's dead and he's not like the other androids, he doesn't really look like he cares about killing Goku." Yuuki explained, but those weren't the only reasons.

When he looked into Gerome's eyes for the first time, he could tell that he had a good heart underneath. Those eyes, filled with damage, fear, loneliness, they spoke more than words could.

"But right now we have to focus, we can't afford to have Tsukimi out of commission!" Yuuki quickly remembered his first objective, trying to find Tsukimi and stop her from getting herself hurt.

* * *

"What's the matter girl? What happened to all of that fire you had before?" Vegeta was still floating without so much as a scratch on him, looking down triumphantly as Tsukimi struggled to crawl out of a rock formation she was just punched into.

"Self-centered prick!" She hissed, brushing herself off as she flew out and began rushing towards Vegeta with another punch, but was quickly countered with an elbow to her back, sending her down towards the water below, only taking the sheer force of her will to stop herself from falling in.

_"Okay this isn't going so well. This isn't fair! He's a freaking super saiyan! Wait, remember what Dad told me."_ Tsukimi began firing energy blasts at Vegeta as quickly as she could though she knew that they would hardly do any damage to him, she just needed a smoke cover.

_"Regardless of how powerful your opponent seems to be, they all have weak points. You just have to find them."_

Tsukimi then flew back upwards, seeing the large cloud of smoke surrounding the prince as her father's words resonated within her mind.

_"I can't let him go, not when Trunks is counting on me to make sure he lives!"_

She then began speeding towards Vegeta just as the smoke cloud was starting to settle, a strong jab aimed for the back of the saiyan's neck but just before she could hit her mark, Vegeta smirked slightly, grabbing the girl's hand and punched her roughly in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and simply tossing her back into the rock formation as if she were a piece of rubbish.

"Hmph, hardly worth my time. If you're going to challenge me, at least have the strength to back it up." He smirked, holding an energy ball in his hand that began to grow larger.

_"Damn it... I can't move.."_ Tsukimi tried to pick herself up, coughing a couple of times as she gasped for breath, trying to catch her breath.

Only looking up and seeing Vegeta preparing to finish their match and possibly finish her off as well._ "I can't beat him. I can't beat a super saiyan at my current level!"_ She then closed her eyes, just waiting for Vegeta to launch the attack.

"TSUKIMI!" Her eyes shot back open, looking ahead with wide eyes when she saw Yuuki fly in front of her, blocking the attack with his hands or at least attempting to.

Tsukimi's eyes were widened in shock, this was a side of Yuuki she had never seen before. He looked confident, strong, determined, the complete opposite of the scared little boy she met all those years ago.

"If you want to get to her.. You're gonna have to go through me!" Yuuki growled, completely in a rage as he forced the blast downwards, into the waters below and causing a small-scale explosion.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed slightly, only glancing to his side when he saw Mamoru and Kasumi flying towards Tsukimi as well. "Hmph, like roaches they gather. I don't have time to waste with the likes of you. I have some androids to demolish." With that said, he flared his strength once more and began flying away from the scene.

"Yo Tsukimi! You alright?" Tsukimi managed to snap out of her thoughts when Kasumi began helping her up from the rock formation. "Yeah, I'm fine." She then glanced back at Yuuki who breathed out a big sigh. "Oh man that was scary..."

"But still, you took on Vegeta! About time you grew a pair!" Mamoru grinned, patting the boy's back as he chuckled nervously. "I don't really know what happened, I just snapped I guess."

"Yuuki." Tsukimi started floating towards the boy, a quick blush spreading over his cheeks, anticipating her show of gratitude for saving her.

"You idiot!" She suddenly yelled, hitting Yuuki over the head with her fist, causing him to wince in pain. "What was that for?!"

"I had to keep him distracted! It was the only way to keep him from going after the androids and now that whole plan is shot straight to hell!" Tsukimi yelled, more frustrated than anything and looked back at the golden trail that Vegeta had left that was quickly fading away.

"Come on, we have to go after him and stop him! I told Trunks I wasn't going to let him die and I don't break my promises!" Tsukimi said but just before she was to fly off, she looked back at Yuuki and smiled softly.

"But thanks for earlier, he was gonna finish me off if you didn't come." The blush on Yuuki's cheeks could only get darker, a wide grin spread over his face. _"I can die happy now..."_ Was the only thought that went through his head before quickly beginning to follow the rest of his friends after the saiyan prince.

* * *

"...The entrance to the underground lab should be around here somewhere." Gerome, Akihiko, and Kimiko had arrived back in the area where Gero's lab once stood, searching through the debris.

It will not be easy to find the entrance through all of this rubble." Akihiko sighed as he continued to look.

"Wait! I think I've found it!" Kimiko looked down at the ground, seeing what appeared to be the handle to a steel door under some of the rubble.

Gerome walked over, swiftly pulling the door open after moving some of the rubble away, revealing the stairway that led underground. "...You did find it. Come on." He said as he started floating down the stairway with Akihiko and Kimiko following behind.

"If the main laboratory was destroyed, isn't there a chance that the main power supply for this section of the lab was destroyed as well?" Akihiko held his hand out, creating a small blue energy ball to give them a light source.

Looking around, he saw that the main entrance to this lab was similar to Gero's old lab, large steel doors were keeping them out, there were no lights near the doorway either.

"Do you know the pass-code to this door as well?" Akihiko asked, only watching as Gerome walked towards the door and placed his hands on the doors, easily pushing them open. "...This lab does not have a pass-code. Dr. Gero deemed it unnecessary since he was sure no one would find this place."

"It's still very dark in here though. Maybe this place doesn't have its own power source." Kimiko began looking around, but even with Akihiko's energy ball, they still had very little light to use.

Gently placing her hand on the wall and began feeling around, Kimiko managed to find the light switch and switched it on, causing the lights in the lab to turn on.

Akihiko just looked straight ahead at the very large machine that was in front of him, getting rid of his energy ball and began walking towards it. "No doubt that this was Gero's master computer. Essentially the brains behind the androids' creations." He gently placed his hands on the machine, examining it more closely.

"But we have to remember what we came here for. We have to find the blueprints Gerome told us about." Kimiko said, only to see Gerome looking at a rather large incubation tank, bubbling with a certain blue liquid with a very small, almost fetal type of creature floating inside of it.

"Gerome? Are you alright?" Kimiko took a couple of steps towards Gerome but he seemed to be in a trance of some sort. His red eyes locked on the machine in front of him and lightly placed his hand on it.

_"Why does this feel... Familiar?"_ that was the only thought going through Gerome's mind. His eyes firmly locked on the small creature inside of the machine.

"This must be Cell in his larval form. It seemed he has yet to mature completely in this time line." Akihiko walked over, looking at the small android inside of the machine and glancing back at Gerome. "It would not be surprising if you shared the same genetic material as this creature."

It was at that moment that Gerome's eyes widened slightly, placing his other hand on his head, his mind was reeling, having never thought that he could be created in such a way.

_"You will be my most powerful weapon Gerome. You are going to be the key I need for Goku's complete and utter destruction!"_ Gero's words echoed in his mind, only causing him to wince slightly at the unwelcome voice.

_"Was I really created in this manner?... Am I just an artificial being? Not a true living being?"_ Gerome only snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Kimiko grab his hand that was placed on the machine and smiled at him reassuringly. "Come on, let's go."

"I believe I've found what we've come here for." Akihiko said, picking up a set of blueprints from a nearby desk and began looking through them, the first seemed to be the blueprints for Android 17, while the other two were more hastily drawn out but appeared to be for Satoshi and Hotaru as well.

"Look, over here!" Kimiko said, going into a corner of the lab and picked up what appeared to be Satoshi and Hotaru's school uniforms and their book bags as well.

"We should keep those. Just in case." Akihiko looked at Kimiko who took out a pack of capsules from inside the chest of her dress with a small blush. "Bulma should have designed these outfits with pockets." She said, picking up an empty capsule and placed the objects all in one area and tossed the capsule on top of them, enclosing them inside of the small capsule.

"Okay we've gotten what we needed, shall we go- Gerome? Is something wrong?" Kimiko looked at Gerome who was looking straight behind her with wide eyes, his face had turned a shade paler as well. "...No..."

Turning around, Kimiko spotted what appeared to be three more android incubators, labeled from thirteen to fifteen, but they were all opened and completely empty.

"Empty capsules?" Kimiko questioned with a slight clueless tone in her voice.

"...The last time I was here, those capsules weren't empty..." Gerome was still in a mild state of shock but upon the realization that there were more androids out there made Akihiko and Kimiko's eyes widen as well.

"So what you are implying is... There are three more androids roaming around as we speak?" Akihiko managed to ask, only for Gerome to nod slightly. "...and Android 13 is the most ruthless of them all.."

* * *

**Okay here's chapter 13! I hope you guys like it and I am so looking forward to writing with Android 13! There's gonna be so much going on in this story that I can't even!**** ^^  
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**Anyway, thanks for reading be sure to tell me what you think! And as for all the guest comments, if you want to ask me a question please create an account so I can answer through PM because I don't like leaving my own comments on my own stories! ^^  
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**Don't be shy though! I'll answer any questions you guys have for me, just make sure you have an account so I can answer! ^^  
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**And be sure to take the poll on my profile because I really wanna know what you guys think of my characters so far! And look forward to chapter 14! ^^  
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	15. Chapter 14

"So you were just trying to distract Vegeta from finding the androids?" Yuuki was flying next to Tsukimi who breathed out a frustrated sigh. "Yes. Trunks told me to make sure that he doesn't die. And that's what I was doing." She said, flying on wards and looking around for the saiyan prince.

"But I underestimated him. I didn't think a super saiyan would be that much of a power difference but I was wrong. Right now, he's in a completely different league than I am. There's no way I can beat him as I am now." She said, biting her lip slightly.

Right now, her mind was focused on finding Vegeta and stopping him from getting killed, but the fact that he towered over her in strength at the moment left her with little options of what to do.

"But what are you gonna do now Tsukimi? Chances are the prince of all tsunderes is getting his ass handed to him by Android 18 right now. Do you have another plan?" Kasumi asked, flying right next to Tsukimi as she saw the prince's golden aura coming into view.

"Yes I do. Follow my lead." Was all the bow-wearing girl said as she began flying down towards the scene, she could see the androids all standing in a roadway, along with Satoshi and Hotaru but her focus was set on the saiyan prince, hearing him loudly yelling at the androids at the top of his lungs.

"WE'LL SEE HOW MUCH TRASH YOU CAN TALK WHEN YOU'RE NOTHING BUT SMOLDERING PILES OF SCRAP META-" The saiyan prince abruptly stopped, his golden aura vanishing and his hair returning to normal. Tsukimi had rushed in, harshly hitting a pressure point in Vegeta's neck, knocking him out and leaving him to fall on the road.

"Hmph, looks like he was all talk." Android 17 noted with a small chuckle, only looking to the side as Satoshi began walking over. "What are you guys doing here?" His tone was slightly surprised and only watched as Tsukimi glanced at Vegeta for a second before cracking her knuckles. "Taking the prince's place if that's alright with you."

"What?! You can't be serious Tsukimi! You took way too much damage from that fight with Vegeta earlier!" Yuuki quickly went over to Tsukimi, only to be taken back by the determined expression she wore her eyes firmly fixed on the androids in front of her.

"I'm sorry Yuuki, but this is something I have to do. I can't let him go through that kind of pain." Her eyes narrowed at the last half of her sentence, that familiar pain stabbing at her heart even now.

Yuuki just looked on with a defeated expression. He knew for a fact that he couldn't change her mind, nothing he said would have any effect whatsoever. And though his heart was telling him to do whatever he could to stop her, he knew that this was a personal obstacle that Tsukimi had to take on herself. He would just have to watch over her, once again, powerless to offer any support.

"Are you nuts Tsukimi?! If you couldn't take on Vegeta by yourself, how the hell are you gonna take on these Androids?!" Kasumi objected as well, but only stopped when she saw Tsukimi look back at her with a small glare, telling her mentally not to get in the way of her fight.

"I already said I'm doing this. Kasumi, I need you and Mamoru to get Vegeta as far away from here as you can. I promised Trunks that I wasn't going to let him die and I'm not a girl to break my promises." She turned back to the androids in front of her, her eyes locked on Android 18. "I'm assuming that you were going to fight Vegeta, right? I hope you don't mind the sudden change in opponents."

"I don't mind, fighting another girl may be more entertaining then a loud-mouthed man." The blonde android said with a slightly amused tone in her voice.

"Are we really gonna let her do this?" Mamoru whispered to Kasumi who only responded with a sigh. "We don't have any choice. You know how Tsukimi gets, there's no way we can change her mind. Besides, Yuuki will be watching over her so she probably won't get killed. Let's just get going." Breathing out a sigh, Kasumi went to the unconscious saiyan prince and only looked down at him for a minute, biting her lip slightly.

"Kasumi, everything's gonna be alright, she'll be okay.' Mamoru placed a hand on the tanned girl's shoulder as she shook her head slightly. "It's not that... I really want to draw a dick on his forehead right now..." She replied through gritted teeth, holding herself back. Only causing Mamoru to sigh and smack himself on the forehead. "Of course you do. Come on, the sooner we dump him somewhere, the sooner you can draw 'Goku's property' on his ass while he's out."

"Damn right I am!" Kasumi smirked devilishly, grabbing one of Vegeta's arms and placed it over her shoulders, Mamoru repeating the action as the two began flying away. "Don't get killed Tsukimi!"

Yuuki looked back at Satoshi and Hotaru, the brunette was looking ahead at the fight that was about to take place with a rather uninterested expression, her arms crossed over her chest. Satoshi on the other hand looked to be a little more concerned, as if he wanted to stop the fight from happening but something was holding him back.

_"Aren't you two gonna do something? We're your friends! You can't just sit by and let something like this happen!"_ Was all Yuuki could think, but couldn't bring himself to say the words that were on his mind.

"So, let's get started." With that said, Tsukimi formed a pair of swords in her hands, created from nothing but pure energy and quickly began charging towards Android 18.

* * *

"This is bad... Very bad." Gerome looked at the empty capsules with wide eyes, from his memory, those three androids were easily the most violent out of all of the androids he had encountered.

"I think it is safe to assume Dr. Gero's super computer was the cause. Once he died, the computer must have been programmed to release those three androids upon the world. The situation just got more bleak." Akihiko concluded, walking towards one of the capsules and looked around it.

"It seems they were just recently released. If I had to make an educated guess, perhaps an hour or so ago." He concluded, only for Gerome to shake his head slightly and look towards the exit. "We should leave now."

"We should tell the others what we've found out. But before that..." Akihiko trailed off, looking back at the large incubation chamber that held the -still developing- Cell and swiftly blasted the incubator, destroying the developing creature inside as well as the machine controlling its development.

"Good idea, we should get rid of the rest of this lab as soon as we can." Kimiko looked around and charged an energy blast in her hand, only to be stopped when Akihiko grabbed her wrist. "No. I've done what needed to be done. We should leave now and not waste any more time."

"But Akihiko, wouldn't it be for the best if we destroyed the lab as well?" Kimiko questioned, watching the boy walk back out the entrance to the lab. And it was in that moment that she realized that he was right. Akihiko always had his own way of doing things, so there had to be a good reason for sparing this lab.

"Right. We should get going." Kimiko began following Akihiko and Gerome out of the lab and quickly began flying away from the scene.

"But what should we do next? If those other three androids are activated, we won't know where they are since they won't give off any kind of energy." Kimiko thought aloud. The fact that there were three more androids now active just stacked the odds more against them.

But just that fact alone was making Kimiko more concerned, she wasn't as powerful as the others were, she wasn't sure if she was actually up for this kind of a challenge.

"We will tell the others what we've found out and quickly relocate Goku to a safe location. Time is not on our side, and protecting Goku is our first priority." Akihiko was looking straight ahead, his mind already racing with different battle strategies befitting the situation at hand.

"We should have destroyed the lab." Gerome suddenly spoke up, only to have Akihiko glance back at him from the corner of his eye. "I have my reasons for letting the laboratory continue to stand. It may come in handy to us later on."

"I just hope the others are doing alright. I felt Yuuki and Tsukimi's power levels rising a while ago." Kimiko said with a concerned expression on her face as the three continued to fly.

* * *

"Alright, this should be far enough." Kasumi said as she and Mamoru set the unconscious saiyan prince down on a small abandoned island in the middle of an ocean.

"Man the dude weighs a tone, I guess muscle is heavy." Mamoru said, rubbing on of his shoulders before looking out at the horizon. "How do you think Tsukimi's doing against Android 18?"

"I'm sure she's doing just fine." Kasumi hummed, before sighing. "Augh! Damn it! Of all the times for me to not bring my black book it just had to be today! I don't even have any damned supplies with me! A chance like this is never gonna come along again!" She groaned.

"You know there's more important things to be worrying about then drawing dicks on Vegeta's head right?" Mamoru glanced over his shoulder and saw Kasumi seemingly thinking very hard about something.

She continued to look down at Vegeta with an almost worried expression painted on her face. "Hey, you okay over there Kasumi? We should get back already."

"Listen. About Tsukimi. I think there's something really wrong with her." Kasumi suddenly spoke up as she stood back up, turning to face the long-haired boy behind her.

"What do you mean? Is she sick or something?" Mamoru questioned, only for Kasumi to clench her fist slightly. "I don't know. You remember before Trunks blew up Gero's lab. The way she was pounding on the door and calling out for Yuuki... She was crying, but she looked completely terrified and was as white as a sheet. Like she just saw her worst nightmare come to life in front of her. I don't know what's up with her but I don't like the way she looked back then. We should get back, I really don't think she's up for a fight like this right now." with that said, Kasumi began flying away from the island.

"Wait a sec Kasumi!" Mamoru called, quickly flying after the spiky-haired girl but looking after her with a slightly concerned expression. _"Kasumi normally doesn't give two shits about anyone else. For her to be worried like this, something really has to be going on!"_

He had a sinking feling in the pit of his stomach, something had to be wrong with Tsukimi. And leaving her to fight against those androids was obviously a mistake.

_"Come on Yuuki, you have to see it too! Something's not right about Tsukimi, you have to step in!"_ He thought to himself as he continued to speed off with Kasumi right next to him.

* * *

_"It looks like she's doing well but something's off..."_ Yuuki was still watching the fight going on from the sidelines, only barely being able to keep up with the movements of the two girls fighting.

Flurries of punches and kicks flew at each other, the two seemingly giving it their all, with Tsukimi putting in a more considerable amount of effort on her fighting.

After landing a solid punch to the blonde android's face, Tsukimi quickly landed back onto the pavement, panting softly and wiping the sweat from her brow._ "Of course, she's an android. She shouldn't have any real sense of pain. How the hell am I supposed to stop her then?"_

Yuuki could tell from the way Tsukimi was standing that she was still feeling the effects of the beating she had just gone through with Vegeta working on her body. Her moves would have been less erratic and sloppy if that weren't the case.

"Tsukimi! You don't have to do this! Let me help you! You've taken too much damage already!" Yuuki called out to the girl, only to earn a small glare from her, making him flinch slightly from how cold and piercing her eyes were at that exact moment.

"I'm fine on my own. I don't need anyone's help." She said simply, tightening the ribbon on her hair and cracking her knuckles. Watching the blonde android in front of her carefully. Just waiting for her to make the next move.

_"I'm sorry Yuuki, but I'm not going to drag you down to hell with me. I'm not going to let you get hurt because of me. I'm strong enough to walk on my own two feet. This is my mess, and I'm going to be the one to clean it up."_ With that in her mind, Tsukimi quickly jumped back when she saw Android 18 try to punch her in the stomach, managing to dodge and tried to kick the blonde in the neck.

The kick seemed to do little to nothing to the other girl, making Tsukimi's eyes widen slightly and quickly jumped back, rushing forward once more with a powerful uppercut but was shocked when Android 18 had grabbed her fist, holding it firmly in place in her hand, right in front of her face.

Her piercing blue eyes peered back into Tsukimi's. Making the girl flinch slightly. Before she could react, Android 18 had harshly punched her in the stomach.

Her eyes went wide, a small choked gasp escaped her lips as she was then grabbed by her wrist and thrown into a nearby rock formation.

"TSUKIMI!" Yuuki yelled in shock, and would have flown after the girl if it wasn't for the sound of Android 17 clearing his throat stopping him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you kid. No one's going to interfere with this fight. That is, unless you think you can fare any better against me?" The raven-haired android had a confident smirk on his face, making Yuuki bite his lip slightly, his eyes then trailing towards Satoshi and Hotaru.

Hotaru's blue eyes gave Yuuki a small warning glance, mentally telling him the same thing Android 17 had told him, while Satoshi continued to watch the fight intensively, a faint shadow of concern showing over his facial expression.

With no other options, Yuuki just looked onward, clenching his fists tightly at his sides. Using every fiber of his being to stop himself from checking on Tsukimi and getting involved in the fight.

* * *

Tsukimi let out a couple small, weak coughs. Feebly attempting to pick herself up. Every muscle in her body was aching, her hold on her consciousness was beginning to slip through her fingers. Making it hard for her to even keep her eyes open.

_"She... She was just toying with me!"_ Looking ahead with a glare, Tsukimi could faintly see Android 18 beginning to walk towards her, ready to deal the finishing blow.

_"All those blows she just let me have! She wasn't even trying to fight back before!"_ Just that fact alone was like a slap in the face to Tsukimi. She prided herself on being an honorable warrior, that her father had bestowed his teachings upon.

But this... It was like as if Android 18 was purposely dangling Tsukimi's own weakness in front of her face, taunting her with it. And she wasn't even going all-out against her either.

_"She's in a whole other league... There's no way I can beat her."_ When the realization suddenly hit her, it was like a second blow to her -already weakened- abdomen.

If she couldn't even hold a candle to Vegeta, and he was to be easily defeated by these two androids, there was no possible way she could even hope to take on Cell.

"It... It's impossible..." She managed to speak, only watching with blank eyes as the blonde android got ever closer to her. "I can't do this... Everyone's going to die... They're all going to die..." Her eyes were wide, a couple of small tears began to form in her eyes.

Her pounding heart was ringing in her ears, her breathing became more shallow and ragged, her stomach was churning, making her feel as if she were to be sick at any moment.

"What's wrong? Already given up?" The blonde android looked down at Tsukimi. The bow-wearing girl just continued to look at her with a look of fear, but not from her own impending death. But from the knowledge that her friends could all die because she was too weak to defend them.

_"Maybe.. This is for the best. I'm weak. That's all there is to it, I'm completely weak... Maybe I deserve to die. My friends' blood will be on my hands either way. The only problem is that I won't have any right to face my father..."_ She only watched as an energy blast began to form in Android 18's hand at point-blank range.

_"I'm sorry everyone, for being too weak to help you. I'm sorry to you too Trunks, I was too cowardly to even tell you how much I love you... And I'm sorry to you most of all Yuuki. I promised that I would stay by your side. And I couldn't even do that right... I hope that you all will be able to forgive me."_ Closing her eyes, Tsukimi could see the faces of all of her friends flash by in her mind, and with each one of them, she could feel a sting of pain stab into her chest that could only get more intense.

* * *

"Ugh, 18 just loves to drag this kind of stuff out doesn't she? I wish she'd just finish this up already so we can get to Goku's place." Hotaru had her hands on her hips, only watching the scene with an uninterested expression on her face.

Taking a glance at Satoshi, Hotaru could see that he continued to watch with slightly clenched fists. As if he were trying to figure out what he should do.

"Satoshi?"

"How can you say that?" Hotaru blinked a couple of times when she heard the boy's reply. Only taking a couple of steps towards him when he turned around to face her.

"Aren't they our friends?! Don't you care about them?! I know we're androids now but did Dr. Gero throw your heart away?!" His tone was harsher than she had expected, and just from hearing that tone made her clench her fists slightly.

"They're your friends Satoshi. Don't go lumping me in with you! They were never my friends! I never cared about them! The only reason I hung around them is because you did!" The brunette yelled back, she honestly felt as though Satoshi was the only person she could trust, and wasn't about to give away her trust to his friends.

"But you had fun with them! I've seen you enjoy spending time with them! We can't let this happen! We can't let Tsukimi get herself killed like this Hotaru! I know you care about them like I do, stop being so damned stubborn!"

That made Hotaru clench her fists tightly at her sides, biting her lip slightly. "It's always been like this... First it's Kimiko and now this! I-" Hotaru stopped mid-sentence when she hears Yuuki's enraged scream.

"TSUKIMI!" The boy had rushed onto the scene, harshly punching Android 18 away from Tsukimi just before she could launch the attack.

"I'm sorry Tsukimi. I know you wouldn't accept my help, but I can't just stand around and watch you do this to yourself! You're not yourself! The Tsukimi I know wouldn't quit when things got tough! The Tsukimi I know would fight until her dying breath and go down kicking and screaming!" Yuuki yelled, clenching his fists and flaring his power as he stood in front of the barely conscious girl behind him.

"IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE, LIVE WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT!" He yelled, making Tsukimi's eyes widen slightly as well as Satoshi's and Hotaru's, making them completely forget about the argument they were having and look on in awe at how powerful Yuuki looked, standing in front of Tsukimi, power circulating in front of him, a couple of small tears were in the corners of his eyes but refused to fall.

Tsukimi's eyes were slightly wide, this was the second time Yuuki had to come and save her, and the second time she had seen this powerful side to his personality. "...Yuuki..."

* * *

**Here's chapter 14! For some reason no matter how much I re-write this one sounded better in my mind, but oh well! I hope you all like it and let me know what you think! ^^****  
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* * *

**Anyway, thanks for reading be sure to tell me what you think! And as for all the guest comments, if you want to ask me a question please create an account so I can answer through PM because I don't like leaving my own comments on my own stories! ^^  
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**Don't be shy though! I'll answer any questions you guys have for me, just make sure you have an account so I can answer! ^^  
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**And be sure to take the poll on my profile because I really wanna know what you guys think of my characters so far! And look forward to chapter 14! ^^  
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	16. Chapter 15

_"Hey Yuuki! Come on or we'll be late for school!" An eight-year old Tsukimi was standing in front of Yuuki's front porch, looking up at the second story window, only to pout as she received no answer from the boy and begun ringing the doorbell._

_"Come on Yuuki! I know you can hear me up there! Don't ignore me! You have a math test today! I didn't tutor you for nothing!" The bow-wearing girl continued to call out to Yuuki, only to blink when she saw his mother, Misao answer the door._

_"Oh I'm sorry Tsukimi. Yuuki isn't really feeling up to going to school today so I decided to give him the day off." Tsukimi only gave her a slightly confused look. She had seen Yuuki the day before and he didn't show any signs of getting sick or coming down with anything._

_"Is it okay if I go up to go see him?" She wanted to see for herself if he was really sick or not. Her gut was telling her that it wasn't an illness he was dealing with._

_"Of course you can, you remember where his room is right?" Misao stepped to the right to let Tsukimi in. She gave the woman a small nod as she began heading up the stairs and knocked on the door to Yuuki's bedroom._

_"Yuuki? Are you in there?" She knocked twice, and only sighed when she didn't receive an answer yet again. The ignoring was beginning to wear on her nerves._

_She slowly opened the bedroom door and was expecting to see Yuuki lying in bed, perhaps flushed with a fever of some sort or showing that he was sick indeed. But what she saw was a lump sitting coiled in the blankets on his bed, accompanied by what sounded like small sniffles. The sound of someone trying to hold their tears back._

_"Yuuki, I know you're in here. How come you're not answering me?" Taking a look around the room, Tsukimi squinted slightly, his room was completely dark, the curtains closed over his windows, blocking the sunlight from coming in._

_"And why haven't you opened the curtains yet? It's too dark to see anything in here!" Setting her red backpack down next to the door, Tsukimi went to the window, swiftly pulling open the curtains. Her eyes then glanced at the lump that was in the middle of the boy's bed._

_"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or not?" She put her hands on her hips, hoping for at least, an answer this time._

_She heard the sniffles once more, the lump in the middle of the bed shifted slightly. "Today... It's been a year since my dad died... Why did it have to be him? Why did he have to die? I just don't understand it! If anyone had to die it should've been me! My dad had a lot to live for, he was strong, he was smart, everything I'm not! If I could trade places with him, I would... Why did he have to die?!" Yuuki finally came out from under his blankets, his eyes were bloodshot and dripping with tears._

_It was obvious to Tsukimi that he was trying to stop his tears from falling but was failing at it, only looking at her for a moment before biting his lip and began sobbing once more._

_"I-It's not fair! He didn't deserve to die!" He tried to wipe his tears away, he tried to hold himself back from crying but all of those attempts were completely fruitless._

_His tears continued to fall onto his bed, leaving the girl in front of him to simply watch him wallow in his own sense of grief and mourning._

_"Will staying here crying bring him back?" By this point, she knew this pain all too well. The pain of losing someone so precious to you, that you couldn't even bring yourself out of bed in the morning._

_"Huh?" Yuuki sniffled, looking up at Tsukimi through watery eyes as she repeated her previous question once more. "I said, will staying here crying bring him back? Will wishing for him to come back actually work? Will feeling sorry for yourself bring him back? Think about it this way. Your dad wouldn't want you to act like this. It's okay to be sad sometimes Yuuki but letting it get to this level isn't good for you. I know that it hurts. But you can't let this pain control you for the rest of your life!" Tsukimi then raised her hand, swiftly slapping Yuuki across his face, leaving the boy slightly wide-eyed, only to see a few small tears working into her eyes as well._

_"If you're not going to die. Live with all your might!" With that said, Tsukimi turned around, picking up her backpack as she walked out of the room, leaving Yuuki to only look with a slightly stunned expression on his face._

_Once she was back outside, she looked down at the hand she had slapped Yuuki with and breathed out a small sigh. "Maybe I was too hard on him?" And just as she was thinking that, she suddenly turned around when she heard Yuuki call out to her._

_"Wait a sec Tsukimi! I'll be down in a minute! Don't lave without me!" He said from his window, already pulling on his school shirt, making Tsukimi smile slightly._

_"Alright but I'm giving you five minutes! I'm not going to be late because you decided to sleep in!" She called back but in more of a playful tone, she was happier to see that he at least had snapped out of his funk._

_But in the back of her mind, she knew that was only a band-aid. It wasn't the cure for those painful emotions he was undoubtedly feeling._

* * *

"If you want to get to Tsukimi, you're gonna have to go through me!" Tsukimi could only watch as Yuuki lunged forward, attacking Android 18 and only received a rough roundhouse kick to his side.

The boy only winced slightly as he pulled back, trying to blast the blonde with energy blasts and found every one of them being deflected back at him.

_"How?..."_ Tsukimi's hold on her consciousness was still fading in and out. Her vision going blurry at times but she tried to pick herself up off the ground once more.

_"How did I let myself sink this low?"_ She continued to watch Yuuki try feebly to fight against the android woman, taking blow after blow and still picking himself with just the purpose of defending her in his mind.

_"I was always the one to protect him... So why..."_ Tsukimi managed to pick herself back up onto her two feet, ignoring the fact that every muscle in her body was completely worn out, watching as Yuuki took blow after blow from the blonde android.

_"Why have we switched roles like this?"_

"The girl put up more of a fight then you did." 18 cracked her knuckles, as Yuuki tried to pick himself up again, coughing up a small amount of blood from the harsh punch to the stomach he just received

_"Damn it. I can't beat her! Everything I throw at her just bounces off!"_ He looked over his shoulder, seeing that Tsukimi was on her feet once more. But he could also tell that she was weak right now, and in no condition to fight.

"I have to get her out of here! I can't let her die!" With that thought in mind, Yuuki quickly fired a series of energy blasts around the area to create a dust wall to stop the androids from seeing him.

"Come on! We have to go now!" He ran towards Tsukimi and quickly grabbed her hand, but the moment he did, a dark vision enveloped his mind.

_"I...It's all over... It's all over!"_ He could see Tsukimi, on her knees, only looking up with an expression of pure fear and horror on her face.

_"We're all going to die... We're all going to die! It's hopeless! We're all dead!"_ He could hear her screams, her body was trembling in pure fright, her eyes were bloodshot, had dark circles under them and were overflowing with tears that rolled off her cheeks in large drops.

And almost as soon as the vision had appeared in his mind, it had vanished, leaving Yuuki blinking a couple of times in slight surprise and shock as well.

_"Why did I see something like that? Was that a vision or something?"_

"Tsukimi! Yuuki!" He snapped out of his thoughts when he looked up, seeing Mamoru and Kasumi rushing towards them. "We got Vegeta as far away as we could, now let's get out of here!" Kasumi called out to the two, but Yuuki was blind sighted when he felt a powerful energy blast hit him right in his back.

"Yuuki!" Tsukimi screamed, hearing Yuuki's pained cry as he struggled to keep himself on his feet, only to glance over his shoulder to see that it was Android 18 who had shot him.

"And where do you two think you're going? This fight isn't over." She said with a slight sadistic tone in her voice and a small smirk.

"Yo! Hands off bitch!" Kasumi yelled, rushing towards Android 18, with Mamoru only looking on in shock. "Wait a sec Kasumi!" He yelled as Kasumi tried to punch the blonde android in the face. Only to blink when she saw 18 appear behind her and roughly kicked her into a rock formation before setting her sights back on the two red-clad kids.

"Kasumi!" Mamoru called out as he began rushing to help the tanned girl, just as Android 18 was charging another energy blast, and Yuuki couldn't find the strength to even fly away with Tsukimi. The last blast he was hit with took the last bit of energy he had but he quickly wrapped his arms around Tsukimi from behind, ready to take any hit for her.

_"Even if I can't fight back, I can still defend her!"_

A small blush spread over Tsukimi's cheeks, she didn't have the strength to push herself away, but the fact that Yuuki was holding herself in this way was something she never expected to happen.

_"When did he become so strong? He doesn't even care that he might die... All he's worried about is me..."_

"Yuuki! Tsukimi!" Yuuki's eyes shot open and before he realized what was happening, Trunks had rushed in, swinging his sword at Android 18.

"Trunks!" Tsukimi managed to say with an even deeper blush on her face.

Android 18 simply held her arm up in defense, causing the blade to crack and break the moment it made contact with her.

Trunks' eyes were wide with shock, so much so that he didn't notice Android 17 rushing in, swiftly punching him to the ground, leaving Trunks' sword to simply fall on the ground as both Yuuki and Tsukimi could only watch with wide, horrified eyes.

* * *

"We can't just sit by and let this happen! Come on!" Satoshi had quickly begun flying down to enter the fray, watching as Piccolo and Tien were swiftly brought down as soon as they attempted to fight against the androids.

Hotaru's eyes narrowed slightly, clenching her fists at her sides. _"Why does he keep putting himself on the line for them? All people do is stab you in the back, and that's just what they will do to him."_ Despite those thoughts in her mind, Hotaru began flying down towards the fight as well, only intent on helping Satoshi and nothing more.

"Kasumi! Are you alright? Come on, we gotta get out of here!" Mamoru helped Kasumi back up, only seeing the girl glaring sharply at Android 18 and wiping her mouth of the blood from the corner.

"Oh hell no! That bitch did not just blow me off! I'm gonna fucking end her!" Before Mamoru could object, Kasumi had rushed towards Android 18 once more.

"Augh damn it!" Mamoru growled, rushing off after her. Knowing that it was useless to try arguing with her or convincing her to let go of a grudge.

"Yo! Heads up blondie bitch!" Kasumi growled, firing a galick gun attack at Android 18 from point-blank range, and smirking as she took a step back. "How'd you like them apples?!"

"Kasumi! Look out!" Mamoru yelled, quickly pushing the girl out of the way of another powerful energy blast 18 had fired at them, managing to avoid the blast and quickly got up, trying to punch the woman in the stomach.

18 then glared at him slightly, grabbing him by his hair. "H-Hey! Let go damn it! Not the hair!" He growled, trying to get out of her grip.

"Hands off the idiot! If anyone's gonna touch his hair it's gonna be me bitch!" Kasumi yelled, charging in with an uppercut, only for Android 18 to swing Mamoru by his hair and throw him at Kasumi, hitting her in the stomach and causing the two of them to fall onto the ground.

_"Damn it! I'm completely drained, I can't help them! And Tsukimi's in no condition to fight either!"_ Yuuki grit his teeth, only being able to watch the fight going on from the sidelines, his body was close to collapsing, and could tell that Tsukimi's condition was worse than his was.

"Hey!" He suddenly looked up, seeing Satoshi flying towards them. "Come on, we're gonna get you guys out of here."

"Satoshi. I knew you didn't change completely." Yuuki said with a small grin, only to look ahead and see that Hotaru was stuck in a power struggle with Android 18, the two of them were blocking punches and kicks.

"Hmph, you should know your place. A lower tech model like you doesn't stand a chance against us." 18 spoke, only for Hotaru to glare sharply at her and swiftly kneed the woman in the chin and jumped back.

"I told you I'm not letting you kill them!" She growled, looking back at Kasumi and Mamoru who were starting to get up.

"Hotaru? You're really helping us?" Mamoru asked, slightly surprised, only to meet with a small glare from the girl. "Don't read too much into this. I'm only doing this because Satoshi doesn't want you guys to die. I personally don't care."

"Heh, just as frigid as ever I see." Kasumi smirked back at the girl, only to blink when Android 18 tried to kick Hotaru, who just barely managed to block it with her arm.

"you shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent." Before Hotaru could turn around, she was roughly kicked in the back bu Android 17, towards Android 18 who punched her in the stomach before kicking her away as well, only to be caught by Mamoru to Hotaru's surprise.

"You two made three big mistakes. Number one, you punched me in the face, number two, you dared to mess with my moron, and number three, you fucked with my friends. Now we're gonna fuck you two up!" Kasumi growled, cracking her knuckles as Mamoru helped Hotaru up.

"Why are you helping me? I just said I don't care about you guys!"

"Doesn't matter if you do or don't. You're one of us wither you like it or not. Better get used to it" Kasumi replied with a devilish smirk before turning her attention towards the two Androids. "You know we're gonna get our asses kicked right?" Mamoru whispered to Kasumi, who only smirked.

"Better then running away. Come on, let's go down kicking and screaming!" She smirked as she started charging towards the androids with Mamoru by her side.

* * *

"O-Oh my god..." Kimiko's eyes were wide in shock and horror, looking down at the scene in front of them, every one of their friends were lying on the ground, completely defeated.

The only ones whom were still fighting were Satoshi and Hotaru, but even they looked like they had taken quite a bit of damage at this point.

"We have to help them!" Gerome was the first to start rushing towards the scene with Akihiko following right after him.

"Wa-" Kimiko had stopped herself, finding herself reaching out for the two. She was about to try stopping them. Seeing just how much her hands were trembling, how much she was truly afraid of this kind of conflict.

She can only look on in fear, watching as Akihiko was then punched harshly in the stomach by Android 17 in an attempt to help defend Satoshi, only to be kicked into a rock formation and roughly fall onto the ground.

"No..." Kimiko found herself trembling even more, looking around at the rest of her friends whom were all lying on the ground completely defeated.

_"I have to help them! I have to fight.. But my legs won't move! I can't move!"_ She wanted to help them, to help fight and defend them but her body was completely paralyzed in fear.

Her eyes widened when she saw that Gerome had been dodging a serious of blasts from Android 18, only to be roughly chopped in the neck by Android 17. Instantly knocking him out.

"N-No..." Her hands were still trembling, small tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. All of her friends were lying defeated, and she was completely powerless to help or even to defend them.

"I-I have to help them!" She managed to force her fears back just enough to get her body to move, taking a few steps forward to direct the androids' attention towards her.

_"I-I have to try! I have to at least attack them!"_ She held out her hands, charging an energy blast directed straight at the androids. But the moment she had opened her eyes once more, they widened in fear when she saw Android 17 heading towards her, causing her body to tremble even more, the small tears of fear she had before were now spilling over her cheeks.

"Kimiko!" Looking up, Kimiko's eyes widened when she saw the punch Android 17 was about to hit her with, be blocked by Satoshi's own arm, standing in front of her to defend her.

"She is off-limits." Satoshi growled, looking back up at the larger Android with piercing blue eyes, holding the punch in his hand.

"No one tells me what to do, especially not some kid." Android 17 glared back at the boy, trying to force more into his punch but Satoshi stood his ground, holding the punch back from getting any closer to Kimiko.

"Satoshi..." Kimiko blinked a couple of times, her heart still racing with fear and adrenaline, her mind trying to process what had just happened when she suddenly spotted Hotaru defending her against a kick from her right side delivered by android 18.

"Hotaru..."

"Don't think too much into this. I'm only doing this because you're important to Satoshi, that's all." She finished her sentence with a small growl, using her arm to defend against the kick from the blonde android.

An eternity seemed to pass as the four androids exchanged glares, neither one of them giving an inch until Androids 17 and 18 withdrew their attacks.

"Hmph, this isn't even worth a fight." 18 spoke, and with that said, the two androids began floating away from the scene, leaving Satoshi to breath out a relieved sigh.

"Damn, I thought they'd never quit." He said before looking back at Kimiko, seeing that her body was trembling slightly once more, the tears that were gathered in the corners of her eyes were threatening to fall.

It was in that moment that all Satoshi wanted to do was hold her in his arms and tell her that everything would be okay, to comfort her and to make sure she was safe, at least try to calm her tears.

But he knew that nothing he could say now would help her. After what she had just witnessed, trying to comfort her with do little good. "Are you alright?" He managed to ask, only receiving a small nod from the short-haired girl as a reply.

"So, what are we going to do now? We can't help them recover. I can only take energy away, I can't give it to anyone." Hotaru looked at the red nodes in the palms of her hands, only watching as Satoshi began to float away from the scene.

_"This is horrible. Someone like Kimiko shouldn't have had to see something like this."_ Was all Satoshi thought to himself as he continued to leave, knowing that if he were to stay, he wouldn't be able to hold himself back from expressing his feelings for the girl, and right now wasn't the best time for that.

Hotaru gave Kimiko a small glance before beginning to fly away with Satoshi. Deep in the back of her mind, she could feel the small tug of pity at her heartstrings for the girl. She had no idea what it was like to see your friends all falling at your feet like that, but only imaged it must have been horrific.

She only took another small glance at the raven-haired girl, seeing her fall to her knees and clench her fists into the ground, only barely able to make out the tears that were dripping onto them.

* * *

With a small groan, Yuuki began picking himself up from the ground. Every muscle in his body was burning, there wasn't a part of him that wasn't in pain one way or another.

But this wasn't the first time he had felt this sort of pain. Being beaten by someone more powerful than him had happened to him quite a bit in his youth. And just like in those times, he couldn't do anything to stop them.

He managed to pick himself up onto his feet, his vision slightly blurry and fading in and out of focus. He could see the rest of his friends all lying on the ground, completely unconscious and unresponsive.

He took unsteady steps towards where he saw Tsukimi lying on the ground, only being able to pass his fallen friends without being able to offer them any help either.

Yuuki then reached into his pocket, pulling out a senzu bean he remembered receiving from Kimiko earlier, and with each step he took, got closer to his goal.

Until he arrived, seeing Tsukimi lying on her back on the ground, her body was badly beaten, she wasn't moving, but he could see her chest heaving with every breath he took. He could tell that even breathing had to be painful for her by this point.

His knees gave out right next to her, and with as much strength as he could muster, Yuuki gently lifted Tsukimi's head, opening her mouth and placing the bean inside, and rubbing her throat to help her swallow it.

_"I'm sorry everyone. I only have one senzu bean. I know this is selfish of me. I hope you can all forgive me later."_ Yuuki took another look around at his fallen friends before looking back down at Tsukimi, breathing a small sigh of relief when he saw that her breathing had become calmer and easier than before.

"At least you can survive... I'm sorry for not helping you more Tsukimi... I only want you to be safe and happy... Because... I love you." Just as he said that, Yuuki's grip on his consciousness faded, and he fell back onto the ground unconscious but with a small smile on his face, knowing that at least Tsukimi would be safe.

* * *

"I... I couldn't help them..." Kimiko was clenching her fists tightly into the dirt, her tears falling onto the back of her hands no matter how hard she tried to hold them back.

"I was completely powerless! I froze up completely! I couldn't even defend them..." She bit her lip slightly, only to then pick herself up and wipe the tears from her eyes.

She reached into the front of her dress and pulled out a small bag of senzu beans. "I-I can at least do this for them..." She spoke, walking to each one of the fallen warriors and giving them senzu beans.

A couple more small tears formed in the corners of her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

_"I wish I could be more like them... Have brute strength, or even more courage... But I don't. I was too scared to even help my friends. Maybe I really am not cut out for this."_ As she was thinking to herself, she was giving Akihiko a senzu bean as well, and looking down at his unconscious face made the tears in her eyes grow bigger.

"Forgive me... Everyone. Please forgive me for being so weak..."

* * *

Vegeta let out a small groan as he began to open his eyes, only to look around in slight confusion and irritation at his new location.

"Where the hell am I? I was going to fight those-" When he remembered what had happened before he fell unconscious, his fists clenched tightly at his sides, a vein on the side of his head began to throb as primal growls escaped his throat.

"THAT LITTLE BITCH! HOW DARE SHE TAKE MY PREY FROM ME! ONCE I TAKE CARE OF THOSE WALKING TRASH HEAPS SHE'S NEXT!" He had powered to super saiyan once again, and was about to fly off of the small island before deflecting an energy blast that was fired at him.

Turning around, he saw that a large pale man with a long black braid was the on who fired the shot. His smaller companion had a large red ribbon tied around his neck and took a drink from a flask.

"Red ribbon. You two must be more of those walking trash compactors. No matter, I could use a warm up anyway!" With a growl, Vegeta began charging towards the two androids, firing energy blasts at them in rapid-succession, only to be blind-sighted by a kick to his back from the shorter Android 15.

The saiyan prince quickly picked himself up but was taken aback when he saw Android 14 appear in front of him, harshly punching him in the stomach, causing the saiyan's eyes to go wide, with only a choked gasp escaping his mouth.

"Damn you..." He growled, rushing towards android 14 once again but found himself being shot in the back by android 15's eye beams, was grabbed by android 14 by his hair and his face was roughly slammed into the large man's knee, leaving the saiyan prince to fall onto the ground.

Android 15 looked at the larger android, giving the large man a nod as Android 14 then stomped on the saiyan prince's back, earning a pained scream from the super saiyan man as his golden aura began to fade, his hair changing back to its original black color.

Both androids held their hands out, charging large energy blasts within them directed at the saiyan prince, only stopping when they saw a man with silver hair, wearing a trucker's cap walking towards them.

"Hold it. He ain't the one we're lookin' for. This isn't Goku. Come on, Goku is the one we're after. No need to end this poor bastard's life." The man spoke with a southern accent, only to have the other two androids nod as they followed their leader as he flew off of the island.

Leaving the saiyan prince with not only his body injured, but his pride completely crushed by the three androids.

* * *

**Here's chapter 15! Okay I'm really proud of how this one came out! I think I'm getting better at writing emotional scenes, and feel free to let me know what you think! I think I'm getting back in the swing of things! X3****  
**

* * *

**Anyway, thanks for reading be sure to tell me what you think! And as for all the guest comments, if you want to ask me a question please create an account so I can answer through PM because I don't like leaving my own comments on my own stories! ^^  
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**Don't be shy though! I'll answer any questions you guys have for me, just make sure you have an account so I can answer! ^^  
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**And be sure to take the poll on my profile because I really wanna know what you guys think of my characters so far! And look forward to chapter 16! ^^  
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**Also, I'd love it if you guys could suggest my stories to some communities on the site! I want to get as many people to read this as possible to spread the word about the dragon ball heroes series! ^^  
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	17. Chapter 16

_"Where am I?" The moment Yuuki opened his eyes, he found himself sitting in a large open space._

_He was completely alone, there was nothing around him, nothing could be seen, all he could see was his own hands in front of his face._

_"This is weird? Where am I?" He questioned himself once again, only to look around when he heard what sounded like sobbing._

_Taking a quick glance around, Yuuki then spotted Tsukimi, on her knees, and trying to wipe her eyes. It was obvious that she was the source of the sobs he was hearing echoing all around the room._

_"Tsukimi? Hey Tsukimi! What's the matter?" Yuuki began rushing towards the bow-wearing girl, his eyes widened slightly when he saw that her body was trembling slightly._

_Her eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles under them, as if she hadn't slept in days. Tears were pouring from her eyes and down her cheeks. No matter how much she tried to wipe the tears away, they continued to overflow down her cheeks._

_"I-It's over... It's all over..." Her voice was hoarse and cracked, like as if she had just screamed at the top of her lungs._

_"What's all over? Tsukimi talk to me!" Yuuki tried to place his hands on her shoulders, only to see his hands go through her. As if he were trying to touch a ghost._

_"W-What the hell?"_

_"We're all going to die... We're all going to die!" Yuuki flinched when he heard the tone of Tsukimi's screams. Her expression becoming more horrified, the color beginning to fade from her face._

_"We're all going to die! We're doomed! It's over!" She yelled once more, holding her head, the tears still falling down her cheeks, her body trembling even more._

_And all Yuuki could do was watch, just seeing Tsukimi in this much distress tugged at his heartstrings, making his chest ache._

_"Tsukimi... Tell me what's wrong! Please tell me Tsukimi! Let me help you! Just please don't cry anymore!" He yelled desperately, his hands going through the girl's shoulders once more._

_He wanted to hold her, he wanted to comfort her, he wanted to protect her but he could only watch as she continued to sob in front of him. Completely terrified and mentally broken as well._

* * *

Yuuki's eyes then shot open, quickly looking around at his surroundings. He was back near the highway where he had fought against the androids. Taking a glance to the left, he saw Kimiko passing out senzu beans to all of the fallen warriors who had lost against the androids.

He gripped his fists a couple of times and felt around his body. His injuries were gone, and he felt no pain from his body anymore. _"I guess Kimiko must've already give me a senzu bean."_ His mind was still filled with the images of Tsukimi crying.

Just thinking about it now made Yuuki clench his fists, only to see a small teardrop fall onto his hand. Reaching up to touch his cheek, he could see that he was already crying as well and quickly wiped them away before anyone could see.

_"I can't get upset now. Something is going on. Why do I keep seeing Tsukimi crying like that?"_ He took another look around, the senzu beans were doing their jobs. All of the fallen warriors were beginning to get back up.

Looking to his side, he smiled softly when he saw that Tsukimi was already up, leaning against a nearby rock formation, seemingly in thought. _"At least she's okay but still... What could that dream mean?"_

That question lingered on his mind. Never before had he ever had dreams like that before. He had never seen Tsukimi cry like that, or look utterly terrified before either. But all he wanted was to make sure that the vision he saw remained just a vision.

He wasn't about to let Tsukimi get to that point. Not as long as he continued to breath.

* * *

_"I can't believe this actually happened." _Tsukimi was leaning against a large boulder, mentally going over her battles against Android 18 and Vegeta. And remembering how each time, she was completely outclassed and had to be saved by Yuuki.

_"I was completely weak and worthless. I couldn't even hold a candle to either of them!"_ She lightly bit down on the end of her thumb nail, still going over her lost battles in her mind.

And also the way she had almost completely given up on life itself during her more recent fight. Just that fact alone made her feel even more ashamed of herself.

_"I can't change the fact that I lost. Those two had monstrous advantages over me anyway. That is a given. Vegeta is a super saiyan and Android 18 had the power to effortlessly kill a super saiyan. I guess I should count myself lucky that I haven't died yet."_

No matter how hard the fight, how much the odds were against her, she never even considered throwing in the towel. Even when her father was still around to train her, she would find herself losing against some of his more powerful disciples. But despite that, she would train even harder and defeat them in rematches.

This was no different. Standing up from the boulder and taking a look around, Tsukimi now knew what she had to do.

_"I have to train. I can get to super saiyan. I can become stronger. Just like Dad told me. I can become stronger, I'm not going to let my friends suffer because of my weakness. And no matter what it takes, I'm not going to let those visions come true. Even if it costs me my own life."_ Tsukimi clenched her fist tightly, determination now shining behind her ebony eyes.

She wasn't about to let her fear get the better of her, as long as she knew that she could advance and become stronger, that was enough to keep her going.

* * *

"Ah man, I feel like I got hit by a truck." Mamoru groaned, rubbing his head as he started getting up.

"That's because you did, a truck with blonde hair." Kasumi sighed, picking herself up and dusting herself off. "Man, didn't think we'd get our asses handed to us that badly. I know they're supposed to be strong but damn! I couldn't even get a good punch in!" The tanned girl groaned, cracking her neck and stretching a couple of times.

Taking a look around and spotting Kimiko, giving Gerome a senzu bean to help him recover from the fight as well. But the one thing that she noticed, was that there were a few small tears in the corners of her friend's eyes, with a small growl, she started walking towards Kimiko.

"Kasumi? Hey, what're you doing?" Mamoru asked, only watching as Kasumi continued to walk away from him.

_"I really am useless here. I couldn't even attack the androids. I just completely froze up. I couldn't do anything to stop them from hurting my friends."_ Kimiko reached into the front of her dress, looking at her Hero License and remembering what Trunks told them just as they had learned about time travel.

_"If you press the button on the back of the card, you'll be sent home, back to your time."_

She looked at the button sitting in the middle of the large 'C' on the back of the reflective card. Just one press of a button and she could go home, and resume her life as if all of this had never happened.

Kimiko was pondering that thought in her mind, just going home and stopping herself from holding her friends back even further. But despite those facts, she just couldn't bring herself to press the button.

_"I can't do it. I can't just leave them alone here either. I really am useless."_ Breathing out a small sigh and putting her card back, Kimiko smiled slightly when she saw that Gerome had begun to stir awake.

"Are you feeling any better Gerome?" Her tone was caring, but all Gerome's eyes were focused on was the fact that the tears in the corners of her eyes were threatening to fall.

"Yes... But are you?" He managed to ask back, only looking to the side when he saw Kasumi walk over with an angry expression on her face and swiftly stepped in front of him.

"Is something the matter Kasu- kya!" Kimiko blinked when she saw that Kasumi had grabbed her shoulders, her sharp eyes peering back into her own. "Kimiko. Answer this one little question for me; who made you cry?"

"Cry? W-What are you talking about?" Kimiko asked, completely unaware of the fact that her eyes were still slightly misty from her earlier crying.

"Don't play dumb with me! I want to know who made you cry so I can kick their asses!" Kasumi growled once more. Only seeing Kimiko glance away slightly, trying to avoid the subject.

"I-It's alright Kasumi, really. You don't have to get so upset." Breathing out a sigh, Kasumi let go of Kimiko's shoulders and began walking past her. "Alright, I think I know enough already."

"Um, what do you mean by that?" Kimiko asked, only to flinch slightly when she saw the devilish glint in her eyes, accompanied by the aura of pure rage, the tanned girl was giving off.

"Those androids chose the wrong girl to fuck with. Now it's time for a little payback." Kasumi smirked to herself, a plan formulating in her mind.

"More importantly." Akihiko's voice caused everyone to turn to him as he brushed himself off. "In the midst of our exhibition to Gero's secret laboratory, Kimiko, Gerome, and I had discovered something rather... Alarming." He began, glancing at Gerome to pick up where he left off.

"Androids 13, 14, and 15, have all been activated. Their containment pods were empty when we found them." The moment Gerome finished speaking, all wide eyes were on him, in a mixture of disbelief and horror.

"What?! The fuck do you mean Androids 13, 14, and 15?! We got more of these bastards to deal with now?!" Mamoru exclaimed, but the news only made Kasumi smirk even more.

"Now, now, don't get your hair all in a knot. I already know what to do. Those three androids are going to be one of our biggest assets in this fight." Kasumi smirked, the aura still radiating from her, making Mamoru take a couple of steps away from her._ "Oh great, now she's royally pissed. And I hate that look of hers. It's her evil thinking look... Shit's gonna go down now, I just hope the androids are prepared to suffer the wrath of this demon!"_

* * *

"You never answered my question Satoshi. What are we going to do now?" Hotaru was still flying by Satoshi's side.

Satoshi seemed to be deep in thought at the moment, only taking small glances around at their surroundings from time to time. "There has to be a way we can stop Androids 17 and 18 without getting the others involved."

"Are you kidding? Even if we are androids now you know how strong those two are. We just barely managed to escape a fight against them. How are we supposed to beat them by ourselves?" Hotaru looked at him with an expression of disbelief, only making Satoshi sigh.

"I wish I knew. I just don't want them to have to get hurt. This whole thing is out fault."

"Hold on a sec. How is this our fault? We didn't know about this time-travel stuff! We didn't know that crazy old fart was waiting to use us as guinea pigs!" Hotaru objected, coming to a stop and causing Satoshi to stop right in front of her.

"I know that but still... Why else would they have come here? Isn't it obvious that they came looking for us? I don't know. Maybe I'm just feeling guilty about this whole thing." Satoshi sighed once more, making Hotaru bite her lip slightly.

_"I know why you're feeling bad. It's because of Kimiko. Damn her for making him feel this way!"_

"Look, there's no use in beating yourself up over this. What happened, happened, and no amount of guilt is going to change things. We should just get going before those androids find us again." Hotaru placed her hand on Satoshi's shoulder, a very faint blush staining her pale cheeks.

"I guess you're right. Thanks Hotaru. You always know just what to say don't you?" Satoshi gave the girl a more cheerful smile, only making her cheeks turn a shade darker.

"W-Well we should get going." Her tone was more bashful, only taking a glance up before her eyes widened at what she just saw.

Satoshi looked puzzled for a moment before looking up as well, only for his eyes to widen as wide as Hotaru's when he saw Androids 13, 14, and 15 floating above them, staring back down at them.

* * *

"S-So there are three more androids running around? And these are supposed to be even more vicious than 17 and 18?" Yuuki managed to ask, his mind was still trying to wrap around the possibility of three more androids pitted against them.

"H-How can this be possible? Only Android 17 and 18 existed in my time line... Has my tampering with the time line really changed things so much?" Trunks' eyes were slightly wide, clenching his fists at his sides, gritting his teeth as guilt began to eat away at his very soul.

Just the thought of all of his efforts, everything he had done so far just for the sake of saving the future from becoming the hell he grew up in, causing more harm than good was almost too much for him to handle.

"It doesn't matter if they're more of them. All that means is that we have more androids to destroy doesn't it?" Tsukimi was the first to speak up, walking towards the others, with Yuuki smiling slightly.

_"At least she looks like she's a little better."_ He could see the fire beginning to return to her eyes, but he couldn't help but notice that she still seemed a little fatigued.

"The girl's right. Even if there are more androids is no reason for us to simply quit." Piccolo spoke up, seemingly glaring into the sky before going off on his own.

"I wonder where he's off to in such a hurry?" Krillin then took a glance around the area, only to notice that Vegeta wasn't around. "Hey. Wasn't Vegeta coming after the androids? What happened to him?"

"He was getting on my nerves so I had to get him out of here." Tsukimi said simply as Kasumi let out a small sigh. "Yeah, Mamoru and I dragged him to some island out in the middle of the ocean."

_"I still can't believe that I didn't have a marker with me! I missed such a golden opportunity!"_

"At least he wasn't here to get himself killed by the androids. My father was the first to fall back in my time line." Trunks said before suddenly feeling Vegeta's own power level which had dropped to nearly nothing.

"Is that Vegeta's energy?!" Yuuki blinked as he looked in the same direction as Trunks.

"But that's impossible! I just knocked him out, I didn't kill him!" Tsukimi said with a more worried expression. Before she could say anymore, she saw Trunks quickly flying off in the direction of the island.

"Trunks! Wait!" She called after the demi-saiyan. Quickly following after him with Yuuki following suit.

"What the hell could've happened? I mean, we just left Vegeta there. There's no way he could've gotten his ass kicked this early could he?" Mamoru asked, he and the others already following after Trunks.

"What do you think? There's six androids running around and a... Whatever the hell Cell is. Of course Vegeta was gonna get his ass kicked, everyone wants a piece of the prince of all tsunderes." Kasumi said in a matter-of-fact tone, shrugging her shoulders.

"Considering the fact that Androids 17,18, and 16 were most likely dealing with us at the time you two left Vegeta on the island means that the other three androids or Cell could have been the one who defeated him." Akihiko said, thinking aloud, his mind seemingly caught up in thought.

_"But how to counter this? We have no way of knowing where the other newly-activated androids could be. Or even Cell for that matter."_

"He's not dead, at least not yet. I can still feel a faint power level coming from him, that's something." Trunks said as he continued to fly ahead.

"But still, I should've done a better job than trusting those two to get rid of Vegeta. I'm sorry Trunks, this was my fault." Tsukimi said, clenching her fist slightly.

"No, you did a good thing. He's still alive, that's the important thing. If you hadn't done anything, chances are that he would have already been killed by the androids. Really, thank you Tsukimi. My father may be an arrogant jerk but he is still a powerful warrior we cannot afford to lose." Trunks looked back at Tsukimi with a small smile, making Tsukimi's cheeks turn a new shade of red.

"R-Really, it was nothing don't worry about it." She smiled, speaking with a more bashful tone in her voice.

Yuuki's eyes narrowed slightly, he could see the way she spoke, the way she looked at him... There was no denying it.

_"You're in love with him... Aren't you Tsukimi?"_

"There he is!" Mamoru called out, pointing to the island and seeing the saiyan prince lying unconscious on the ground, his body was already battered and bruised.

"Father!" Trunks quickly landed on the island, going over to his father and quickly checked on him, a small relieved sigh once he saw that he was still breathing.

"Good. He's still breathing. Do you have anymore senzu beans, Kimiko?" Trunks turned to the blue-clad girl who gave him a small nod, holding the small bag in her hand.

"Yes, I have a few left." She quickly handed Trunks one as he fed it to his unconscious father, only to see the prince stir slightly, the moment he had opened his eyes, he quickly got up, giving a glare to the others.

Without saying a single word, he flew into the skies. "Father!" Trunks tried to call out to him, but his voice fell on deaf ears, leaving Trunks to look after him with a small sigh.

"There are more pressing matters to attend to. Now that there are six androids that seek Goku's life, it would be wise of us to hurry to Goku's home and relocate him to a safe location." Akihiko spoke up, his arms crossed across his chest, and his expression showing that he was still in thought.

"Oh god dude, that, right there, is girl repellent!" Kasumi let out a frustrated groan, only for Akihiko to give her a small annoyed glance.

"He's right though. Come on, we need to get Goku to safety. We absolutely can't let him die, no matter what." with that said, Trunks began flying off once again, with the rest of the kids following suit.

_"Things keep getting worse. Androids 13, 14, and 15 aren't supposed to exist here. And even still... Why did I see those visions? Is the stress getting to me?"_ That was all Yuuki could think of, only looking to his side and seeing that Kimiko also seemed to have a lot on her mind.

Her expression spoke louder than words could, clearly showing her insecurity and uncertainty about the current situation and perhaps something even deeper.

_"I guess I'm not the only one worrying here."_

* * *

"I can tell you three are androids. Did you come looking for a fight?" Satoshi asked with a small glare, looking up at the taller Android 13 standing in front of him.

"Relax boy, you ain't our target. The only one we want to fight is Goku." Android 13 replied simply before glancing over the two. "Heh, you two must be new. The old man must be getting desperate to get a couple of kids to do his dirty work for him." He sounded like he was half-joking, but at the same time, Satoshi could hear some disdain in his voice as well.

"Alright then, at least we don't have to fight. But why are you guys here if you're looking for Goku? Shouldn't you be able to sense where he is?" Satoshi questioned, still looking at the three with caution, he knew that Android 13 was a dirty fighter and wasn't going to risk him getting the upper hand because he was careless.

"We can't. That's a feature only for the completely mechanical androids." 13 answered, glancing up at the sky at a flock of birds flying overhead.

"Wait, does that mean you guys are like 17 and 18? You were humans before Gero made you androids?" Satoshi questioned even further, taking a glance at Android 14 whose stoic expression remained unchanged, and Android 15, who took a small flask out of his jacket sleeve and took a drink.

"Is that what happened to you two, boy?" 13's piercing blue eyes seemed to peer back into Satoshi's at his question.

"It's a complicated story but that's the short version of it. We used to be humans, but we ended up being captured by the old man and changed into Androids." As Satoshi spoke, Hotaru glanced down at the palms of her hands, staring into the red energy-sapping nodes embedded into them.

"But let me ask you something 13, why do you want to kill Goku? Is it simply because of Gero's programming? Even Hotaru and I felt that way for a bit but I guess it just wore off after a while or something." Satoshi said with a small shrug, only to be slightly surprise by the almost-angry expression 13 was now wearing.

"Heh, I was just a simple farmhand before Gero went and changed me into a killin' machine. But everyday, it feels like the memories I had of my old life are slippin' through my fingers. Gettin' blurrier every day." 13 clenched his fist slightly as he continued.

"But I do know one thing; Goku needs to die. Everything bad that's happened to the planet has all been because of him! A lot of innocent people had to die all because of him." The blonde android then adjusted his hat, holding his hand out, signaling to his comrades that he was going to leave.

"And I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit by and let that happen again." With that said, Android 13 began flying away, with 14, and 15 following right behind him, leaving Satoshi and Hotaru to look on with slightly confused looks.

"So, what are we gonna do now Satoshi?" Hotaru asked with her arms crossed over her chest, only watching as Satoshi watched the trail left by the three androids fade into the sky.

* * *

**Here's chapter 16! Woot~! Finally bringing in Android 13! X3 I'm so glad I was able to find a role for him here, he's one of my top 3 Dragon ball Villains, maybe because I'm a sucker for a southern accent since I got one myself ^^****  
**

* * *

**Anyway, thanks for reading be sure to tell me what you think! And as for all the guest comments, if you want to ask me a question please create an account so I can answer through PM because I don't like leaving my own comments on my own stories! ^^  
**

**Don't be shy though! I'll answer any questions you guys have for me, just make sure you have an account so I can answer! ^^  
**

**And be sure to take the poll on my profile because I really wanna know what you guys think of my characters so far! And look forward to chapter 17! ^^  
**

**Also, I'd love it if you guys could suggest my stories to some communities on the site! I want to get as many people to read this as possible to spread the word about the dragon ball heroes series! ^^  
**


	18. Chapter 17

"Oh be careful with him! He isn't a load of laundry!" Yamcha and Krillin were helping to carry an unconscious Goku onto Yamcha's airplane, ready to get him to a safer location.

"Damn! Still wish I had a marker!" Looking up, Krillin spotted Trunks, and the rest of the kids arriving on the scene.

"There you guys are! So, how's Vegeta doing?" Krillin asked as Trunks and the kids began walking onto the airplane. "Yeah, he's alright now. Once he recovered form his injuries, he flew off somewhere." Trunks said, glancing down slightly.

"I wouldn't worry about him, the drama queen's probably going to go lick his wounds and nurse his little pride that was smashed like an ant on a sidewalk." Kasumi said with a smirk, sitting down as the plane began taking off.

"Always down to the point, aren't you Kasumi?" Tsukimi asked with a slightly annoyed look, only for Kasumi to smirk and put her hands behind her head. "Yep~! What'd you expect me to say? It's Vegeta we're talking about. The only way he'd ever get sarcasm is if he was slapped in the face and kicked in the ass with it."

Yuuki on the other hand, was sitting against the wall of the plane, still deep in thought. The images of his visions were still haunting his mind, and all he wanted was an answer as to why he was seeing those kinds of visions in the first place.

He took a small glance at Tsukimi, whom was sitting next to Trunks on the plane. He could see that she was clearly exhausted, and still fatigued. Like as if she hadn't been sleeping well.

And that fact alone was enough to worry him.

_"I really hope those visions are all just in my head.."_ Just as he thought that, he saw that Tsukimi had dozed off, her head now resting on Trunks' shoulder.

"I'm not really surprised, those fights must have taken a lot out of you all." Trunks carefully had Tsukimi lying down, folding up his jacket and placing it under her head to use as a pillow.

Just from seeing the way Tsukimi seemed to be sleeping soundly at the moment, while it should be bringing him some relief, all he could feel were the deep fangs of jealousy piercing down on his heart.

_"No! Now isn't the time for this! I shouldn't be worrying about the fact that Tsukimi's in love with Trunks... Oh god she's in love with Trunks." _Yuuki slumped his shoulders, just that mental realization was enough to make the pain of jealousy that much more intense for him.

But in that moment, Yuuki could see a brief flash of his previous vision, Tsukimi completely broken mentally, trembling and horrified, crying her eyes out.

_"There is something more important to worry about."_ Yuuki knew that the other androids running around were a bigger concern than something as simple as his feelings for Tsukimi. Now wasn't the time to worry about that.

He took another look at Tsukimi but could see her stirring slightly, a slight look of fear was already showing on her face. _"Maybe my visions are right."_

"So what are we gonna do about 13 and his gang running around? Anyone got any ideas?" Mamoru asked, looking around at the others, who didn't answer him right away.

"I guess that's a no then." He sighed, only to glance at Kasumi when he heard a slightly wicked chuckle escape her lips. "Oh, don't worry about them. They'll be taken care of. I'm going to make sure of it."

"And how are you going to do that? It'll take more than a gallon of tartar sauce, a truck tire, a plugged-in toaster, and a ball of yarn to get rid of these androids like you did our last math teacher." Mamoru said with a sigh.

"He had it coming! He totally had it out for me!"

"Because you jack-slapped him in front of his kids!"

"It was a crowded train ride and I was not about to let any old pervert touch me! You have it easy, no one wants to touch boys, it's always us pretty girls that have the problems." Kasumi sighed, only getting another sigh from Mamoru. "Yeah but still."

"Uh, what was your plan about Kasumi?" Trunks managed to ask, only seeing Kasumi pull out her black crystal pendant from inside her top. "Sorry, a demon never reveals her secrets. Mom's rule number 46 on her black book."

"...Yeah we should've warned you about her, don't take anything she says seriously." Yuuki said sigh an embarrassed sigh of his own, only to take a glance into the corner of the plane and seeing Gerome glancing out the window.

"In any case, we need to come up with a battle strategy. Considering that Tsukimi may be out of commission for some time, I have already come up with seven different tactics we can employ at any given time." Akihiko spoke up, taking a glance at Kimiko, whom was looking at her Hero License once more.

"Dude, I got this handled, why don't you believe me?" Kasumi asked, with an almost offended tone.

"Because there is more at stake with this battle Kasumi, it is not like one of your strange pranks." Akihiko told her simply, his arms crossed.

"News flash dude! You ain't the only one with a brain around here! Besides, I got my ways, by the end of the day, we won't have anymore android problems!" Kasumi retorted confidently, only for Akihiko to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose. "Kasumi, do I need to lecture you on the complexit-" Akihiko stopped when he saw Kimiko get up, looking after Gerome.

"Gerome? Is something wrong?" she asked, but Gerome's eyes were fixed on the window, narrowing slightly._ "I can feel it... That presence from before."_  
"I have to go. Now." Was all Gerome said before opening the door to the plane.

"Wait a second Gerome!" Trunks called out to the bio-android but was too late, only watching him fly off into the distance.

"Gerome! Come back!" Kimiko called after him, concerned as to what could have made Gerome want to leave so quickly and without warning.

"I wonder why he had to go in such a hurry?" Yuuki asked with a slightly clueless tone, watching as Kimiko closed the door. "I'm not sure. But whatever it is, it has to be important."

* * *

_"I can feel his energy getting closer."_ Gerome continued to fly through the skies, heading directly west. Following the energy source that had invaded his senses.

This energy was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was so close to his own energy signals that he could easily mistake it for being a clone of himself.

That was almost the truth. He knew what this energy was coming from, he knew that it was another one of Dr. Gero's experiments.

And because the energy was so similar to his own, he just had to know; what made this creature different from him?

_"I don't understand. If Dr. Gero was already creating this creature then why did he bother creating me?"_ That was the only question going through his mind.

All he used to know was pain, he was used as a simple punching bag for Gero's other android experiments and was deemed a failure by his creator simply for the fact that he did not take joy in stealing innocent lives, and did not desire to destroy Goku in any way.

Looking down, and landing on a roadside, Gerome took a look at the nearby sign that read 'Nikki Town'.

"This is where the energy is coming from." He began walking into the city, but as he looked around, he couldn't see a single human being within the city limits. And what was even more strange, was the fact that there were clothes strewn about on the ground everywhere he looked.

Taking a small look around, Gerome could feel that energy source getting closer to him, and could tell from first glance that the energy signature was already stronger than he was.

"Ahh, now this is a surprise." Upon hearing that voice, Gerome quickly turned himself around, where he came face-to-face with the creature the power source was coming from.

"I never expected to see you active once again, Gerome." He could tell this green creature was almost exactly like him in terms of biological similarities.

But in terms of personality...

"So what bring you here to my banquet, little brother?" Cell asked with a small smirk, his tail moving slightly behind him as he spoke.

"I want to know why I was created. What purpose do I serve if Dr. Gero went to the trouble of creating you?" Gerome's tone was serious, at the moment, that was all that was on his mind.

"Hm? I'm not sure. My purpose is to achieve my perfect form, and nothing more. To obtain perfection is my purpose in this world." Cell replied with a simple tone in his voice.

_"Could his purpose really be so simple? Do I have a perfect form like he does?"_ Right now, Gerome had far more questions than answers. And the questions just seemed to continue piling up.

"But let me ask you something? Would you like to obtain perfection as well?" Looking back at Cell, Gerome's eyes widened when he saw Cell's stinger stab into his arm while his mind was somewhere else.

* * *

"Come on, we have to see what's up with Gerome. Whatever it is, it can't be good." Yuuki got up from his seat on the plane. After seeing Gerome leave in such a hurry, he knew that something had to be wrong.

"Yuuki's right. We have to go after him before he does something reckless." Kimiko was next to express her own concerns for him, she could tell in her heart that something was wrong.

"He seemed to be heading in the direction of Nikki town. We should hurry before the situation escalates." Akihiko stood up as well, looking out the window.

"Wait a second, you guys can't go off on your own like this, there are six androids running around and none of you can even reach super saiyan yet!" Trunks stood up, only watching as Yuuki opened the hatch to the plane that Gerome had used.

"Hey, keep an eye on Tsukimi for me. Okay Trunks? I'm pretty sure that once she wakes up, she'll be mad about being left behind for something like this and she really needs her rest. Can you do that for us?" Trunks could see thought and concern in Yuuki's eyes, and even though every fiber of his being was telling him to stop them, he remembered that perhaps if Gohan had not tried to stop him on that day, then he would still be alive to this day.

"Alright, just be careful you guys." Trunks reluctantly agreed, only for the rest of the kids to head to the door.

"Don't worry we will." Yuuki gave him a small smile, though not even he was sure that everything was going to be completely alright, and wasn't even sure what they were going to end up facing off against either.

"God you're so stiff, relax a bit dude!" Kasumi smirked, walking past Trunks and swiftly slapping his rear end, making the teen jump slightly. "Hey!"

"Haha! Nice and toned, just like I thought! Hey Kimiko! I finally copped a feel!" Kasumi smirked as she began flying out with the others following suit.

"Um, I'm sorry about he,r Kasumi is a little eccentric." Kimiko blushed before going off as well, leaving Trunks to sigh and look back at Tsukimi, whom was still sleeping but showing signs of having a nightmare.

_"Am I doing the right thing?"_

* * *

"Alright, here it is. Nikki town." Yuuki looked to the sign on the road side, and sighed slightly.

Everything that they had gone through, all of the fights they had gotten into since they came to this time line. But never once did he ever think about heading home. And that made him wonder about the others.

_"Alright. It's now or never."_ With a small breath, he turned around to the others. "Hey, listen to me for a sec."

"Is something wrong, Yuuki?" Kimiko was the first to ask, only looking as Yuuki took his hero license out of his pocket. "Things are going to get even more dangerous from here-on out. So, if any of you want to leave and go back home. Now's your chance."

Kimiko's eyes widened slightly, only thinking about the hero license that was in her pocket.

"I'm not going to leave, I feel like I still have a lot about myself I need to figure out first. These powers that I have, I think that I have a duty to use them for the better good. I can't lie, I get scared when I think about all of the powerful enemies that are probably just waiting for us. There's a chance that I or any of us could die here. But I wouldn't blame any of you if you wanted to leave." As Yuuki spoke, Akihiko took a glance at Kimiko, just to see what her reaction to this kind of proposition could mean.

He felt it too, that perhaps this kind of mission would be too much for Kimiko to handle, seeing violence like this, the possibilities of them losing their lives may be too much for her.

"Oh please! We're not going anywhere! I finally got a feel of that sweet ass Trunks has! And besides, I still got a score to settle with this androids so I'm not going anywhere." Kasumi said with a smirk.

"And I'm not gonna go anywhere either. Besides, getting stronger's gonna help me out quite a bit back home. Now I can make sure my baby sister is safe, since no one will be able to touch her or me." Mamoru said with a grin of his own.

"We have come too far to simply quit now. We knew what we were getting into when we agreed to come here. I have no qualms about coming here. And I have no intentions to leave when we still have unfinished business to attend to." Akihiko replied simply, his arms crossed once more.

"A-Akihiko's right. We can't leave now. I'm going to try to make myself stronger, I don't want you all to have to do all the fighting, I want to do some of the fighting as well!" Kimiko spoke up with a small smile.

And upon hearing all of the testimonials, Yuuki smiled softly as well, he expected at least two of them to leave. But was happy that they had decided to stay by his side. "Alright, let's get going then." When he turned around towards the city, his eyes widened when he saw a large-scale explosion taking place, and Gerome now floating in the skies above the city, having fired the shot that triggered the explosion.

"There's Gerome!"

* * *

"Satoshi! You never answered me! Where are we going?" Hotaru called out to Satoshi, whom was still flying ahead of her, only stopping when he saw Androids 13, 14, and 15 flying ahead, looking around for any signs of Goku.

"Hey! 13!" Satoshi called out to the taller android, who glanced back at him from the corner of his eye.

"Think about it! Is shedding blood really the best way to achieve peace? Goku's life has meaning to! He has a family, he has friends! What about them? Will killing Goku truly bring about peace?!"

Closing his eyes for a moment, Android 13 could see every single image that Dr. Gero's computer had shown him, the very worst that humanity had to offer, every war that had ever been fought, innocent blood being shed by those who simply get a kick from seeing others injured.

Every single battle flashed through his mind in an instant, and it was that instant that reassured him of his conviction to obey Dr. Gero's last orders. "It is. You both are just kids, you aren't old enough to really understand why this has to be done. And I'm only gonna ask ya'll this once. I'm goin' after Goku. Are you two with me? Or against me?" His tone was now colder, making the two flinch slightly at the thought of having him as an enemy.

But before Satoshi could speak once more, he suddenly hears the explosion that had gone off, seeing it fade into the distance.

"Should we see what that's all about?" Hotaru managed to ask, looking at the explosion fading as well.

* * *

**And here's chapter 17! I'm finally getting to working on some of Gerome's character, a fight with Cell is gonna be fun to write~! Also, I just love every scene with Android 13, he's just one of my favorite characters X3****  
**

* * *

**Anyway, thanks for reading be sure to tell me what you think! And as for all the guest comments, if you want to ask me a question please create an account so I can answer through PM because I don't like leaving my own comments on my own stories! ^^  
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	19. Chapter 18

"Remember to be careful with him!" Yamcha's aircraft had landed on Master Roshi's island. And with that, Trunks only watched as Yamcha and Krillin were carrying the -still sleeping- Goku into the house with a worried Chi-Chi following closely after them.

Trunks just looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms. He figured that he couldn't just leave Tsukimi to sleep in the ship.

But what caught his attention the most, was the expression she wore while she slept. Her brow furrowed slightly, light groans escaped her lips. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was having a nightmare.

_"All of this fighting must be getting to her. Maybe I was wrong to try to count on these kids to help."_ The feeling of guilt from earlier was only getting stronger.

In the back of his mind, a small voice was telling Trunks that having these kids come to this time line and try to help him may have been the wrong thing to do. So far, two innocent kids had been turned into androids, more androids are showing up, and they seem to be far stronger than he anticipated.

And Cell was still lurking around somewhere in this time line, that was what made Trunks worry the most.

He wasn't sure if he could defeat Cell on his own. Even though their fight was short, he knew that the bio-android was powerful. More powerful than he currently was.

And he would forever have that scar on his body to remind him of the fact that his own carelessness is what had caused him to get into this mess in the first place.

Breathing out a small sigh, Trunks gently placed the sleeping girl under a palm tree. Just watching over her for when she would decide to wake up and remembering what Yuuki had told him earlier.

_"I'm pretty sure that once she wakes up, she'll be mad about being left behind for something like this and she really needs her rest. Can you do that for us?"_

The demi-saiyan could only look up at the blue sky, trying to clear his mind, even if by just a little bit.

_"I hope they're alright."_

He took one more look down at Tsukimi, who was shifting slightly in her sleep. Her nightmare still clearly going on in her mind. And he could only wonder just how horrible the images in her mind were at that moment.

* * *

_"Please! Make it stop! Someone make everything stop!" All Tsukimi could hear were the screams of agony from her friends, only for each one to be abruptly silenced, almost as quickly as they had invaded her eardrums._

_Her eyes were squeezed shut, afraid of what horrific sight she may meet with once more._

_Her hands were covering her ears tightly, trying desperately to block out any more screams of agony from invading her ears._

_"Please... No more..." She managed to speak, tears streaming down her cheeks. Slowly, she began opening her eyes, only for them to widen when she saw that Yuuki was backing away fearfully from a larger figure._

_"P-Please! I don't want to die!" His body trembling, his eyes wide with fear. Upon seeing that, Tsukimi quickly managed to pick herself up. "Yuuki!" She wanted to save him, even if she could save at least one of her friends, that would be enough for her._

_The moment Tsukimi ran towards the terrified boy, her hand went right through his shoulder, just like each time. She is unable to do anything to help him._

_It was at that moment that she saw Android 13 appear before her, and roughly punched the boy in the stomach, making him cough up a small amount of blood._

_"Yuuki! You have to run away! Run away Yuuki!" Tsukimi tried to call out for him, but it was just like the other times. He couldn't hear her, he couldn't see her, she couldn't touch him._

_It was as if she were already a spirit, trying to save someone from dying._

_"P-Please... Stop..." Tsukimi clenched her fists, only being able to watch as the android continued to mercilessly beat her closest friend in front of her._

_She tried to cover her ears once more, but each of Yuuki's pained cries were still invading her mind, making her tears come down in even greater volume._

_"Please... Someone... Help..." Tsukimi's eyes widened as she looked down at the beaten boy, the android was no longer in sight._

_His body was completely battered and bruised, his right arm was clearly broken and snapped in a deforming way, his right leg had been savagely torn off, blood was pouring from the small corner of his mouth._

_"Please... Help..." As he said that, Yuuki weakly tried to reach his good arm up towards Tsukimi. As if he could see her right there beside him. But after a second had passed, his eyes began to glaze over, and his arm fell limply back down._

_Just seeing that, made Tsukimi clench her fists tightly, a whirlwind of emotions was filling her heart, anger, fear, sadness, grief. She was nearly at her breaking point, she had witnessed her friends being killed so many times but this..._

_Unable to do anything else, Tsukimi bit her lip slightly before letting out a blood-curdling scream from the top of her lungs, voicing every single emotion that had built up within her in one single instance._

_She was powerless to save her friends once more. And in the back of her mind, she began to wonder how much more she could take._

* * *

Tsukimi's eyes shot open, quickly sitting up and looking up at the palm tree she was sitting under and breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Thank God, it was just a dream."

"Oh good, you're awake." A light blush spread over Tsukimi's cheeks when she saw that Trunks was sitting on the porch of Kame house and began walking towards her with a small smile.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I was a little tired so I just crashed." She bashfully looked away from him and began looking down at the ground. Just doing anything she could to try and hide her blush.

_"I can't believe this! This is the perfect moment! We're alone together... And he was watching over me!"_

Just that thought along was almost enough to make Tsukimi's cheeks turn a darker shade of red and only looked back at Trunks when she felt the pounding in her chest begin to die down some.

"I'm glad we were able to get here safely. I bet the others are taking this chance to relax a little bit before we have to go back to fighting."

"Actually, the others aren't here.." Tsukimi quickly looked back at Trunks when he had said that. "Then... Where are they?"

"While you were sleeping, Gerome rushed out of the plane and went towards Nicky town. I think he was planning to go after Cell on his own and the others went after him. They said I should keep an eye on you since it looked like you needed some rest."

Tsukimi clenched her fist slightly, this was not what she wanted to hear! "T-They're going after Cell?" Her heart began to race all over again but this time with fear for her friends' safety.

"Yeah, they left a while ago." Trunks blinked when he saw Tsukimi already flying off towards the direction of Nicky town and quickly went after her. "Tsukimi wait!"

_"This can't be happening! This cannot be happening!"_ Tsukimi's eyes were slightly wide, her expression had become more fearful as she continued to fly, but only stopped when she felt Trunks grab her hand.

"Wait a second Tsukimi! Why are you rushing off like this? Why do you look so worried?" Looking up at Trunks, Tsukimi bit her lip, finding the words already beginning to overflow from her mouth.

"Ever since I started coming here, I've been having horrible nightmares. And at this point I can't even tell if they're nightmares or not! Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is another android or Cell killing my friends and I'm completely powerless to stop it! No matter what I do, the nightmares don't stop!"

Trunks could only look at her with a surprised expression. He had never heard of such a thing before, could time travel really cause psychological side effects like this? Or was it something else that he didn't know about?

"Tsukimi..."

"Please, let me go... I have to go to them! If something happens to them and I'm not there to try and stop it..." Tsukimi looked down at the waters they were floating over, her own worried expression reflected in the blue water below.

"I won't be able to live with myself..."

All Trunks could do was listen to her pleas. And it was in that moment, that he could see some of himself in Tsukimi. The way that he used to beg Gohan to have him help against the androids, and the horrible guilt he felt when Gohan had died when he couldn't do anything to stop it...

That pain still lived in his heart to that day.

Letting out a small sigh, Trunks began powering up, only for Tsukimi to look at him. Slightly surprised.

"Come on, we're heading to Nicky Town." With that said, Tsukimi quickly wiped her eyes and nodded, flying off with him as fast as she could. "Thank you Trunks."

_"I just hope I'm not too late."_ Was the only thought that went through her mind. Just knowing that her friends could be alone with Cell right now was almost enough to make her have a panic attack but what she needed right now was to not show fear, and to be brave in the face of overwhelming odds against her.

For she believed if she showed one moment of weakness, that could be life or death.

* * *

Dodging another energy blast, Gerome fired back two of his own. Only seeing Cell bat them away with his tail and trying to stab into the smaller bio-android with his tail. His only objective was obtaining power and nothing more.

"I wanted to know why I was created! I don't want to get into a meaningless battle with you!" Gerome tried to talk some sense into Cell, but that only made the green bio-android smirk slightly as he was then blasted at point-blank range with a ki blast.

Gerome skidded on the pavement a couple of times before regaining his footing and glaring back at Cell. Talking wasn't going to do much, all he was concerned with was power.

But if Cell was a more advanced form of himself, did that mean he would eventually find himself acting this way?

Killing innocent people all for the sake of gaining strength?

"What's wrong? Is my power too much for you to handle Gerome?" Gerome continued to glare at Cell as he tauntingly began walking towards him, after the fourth step, he lunged toward Gerome, ready to absorb him with his stinger, only to look with a surprised expression at how Gerome had grabbed his stinger, stopping it from stabbing into him.

"It seems getting answers out of you isn't going to happen anytime soon." With that said, Gerome began swinging Cell's tail around in sharp circles with one hand while charging a ki blast in his other hand, and once he had thrown the large bio-android, he fired the blast directly after.

After seeing the attack made contact with Cell and explode in the sky, Gerome watched after the smoke cloud carefully. He knew it would take more than that to deal with Cell, and that little bit of effort wasn't going to be enough to finish him off.

"Gerome!" Turning around, Gerome saw the rest of the saiyan heroes rushing towards him, making him quickly look back to the smoke screen that was now gone, and Cell along with it.

"We saw the explosions and thought we should come help you. Are you alright?" Yuuki was the first to ask, and also the first to notice Gerome's uneasy expression.

"You shouldn't be here right now. I am fighting against a being that can absorb organic creatures into his body for the sake of power. It isn't safe for any of you to be here." Gerome continued to look around the area carefully. He could still feel Cell's presence close by.

"Well that should be the answer to our question. We know Cell's here and we're here to help you kick his ass so let us in on it already!" Kasumi smirked, creaking her knuckles and taking a small look around.

"We might not be strong enough to beat him alone but if we work together, we might be able to beat him!" Yuuki clenched his fist, using a more optimistic and confident tone in his voice.

Cell was hiding behind a building, only seeing multiple power sources gathering all in one spot. And if he absorbed them all, the closer he would be to achieving his perfect form. And his pink eyes focused on one in particular, the one that he felt had the lowest power level and would be the easiest to take care of.

Slowly his stinger slipped out from behind the alley, already aiming straight at his target.

Kimiko.

Upon seeing that, Gerome's eyes widened slightly and just as Cell went in for the strike to the girl's back, Gerome had already quickly pulled Kimiko towards him, and fired a powerful ki blast towards the green bio-android as he jumped out from between the buildings and smirked as he looked at the group.

"So many power sources, so little time~"

"Are you alright?" Gerome looked down at Kimiko who seemed to be a little shaky from such a sudden start but nodded as she tried to regain her composure. "Yes. Thank you Gerome."

"Ugh! Man he is one ugly S-O-B!" Kasumi spoke, already firing a series of ki blasts at the bio android, only to see Cell smirk and jump above them, already trying to stab his tail into Mamoru, who barely managed to jump out of the way.

"Damn he's fast!" They had little time to react, the movements of the stinger were erratic and hard to predict which made it hard to dodge as well.

"We have to scatter now! We are all targets if we stay in a group like this!" Gerome quickly said as the others nodded and were about to start running in different directions before looking up, seeing Cell flying right in front of the sun and firing a solar flare attack, blinding all of the kids in an instant.

"Damn it! I can't see!" Mamoru growled, rubbing his eyes but the light was too bright for any of them to open their eyes.

"We have to get out of here now! He wants to absorb us for the sake of his own power!" Gerome called out, trying to open his eyes even a little bit but was still unable to say anything.

He could make out Kimiko standing next to him, rubbing her eyes, and on instinct, he quickly pulled her close to him, just to try keeping Cell from absorbing her.

Cell had smirked when he saw that Yuuki seemed to had wandered out of the inner circle of the rest of his friends and was still trying to rub his eyes to regain his sight. "You'll make a nice appetizer~" And with that said, Cell lunged forward, and before Yuuki could even see completely, his eyes shot open when he felt the tip of Cell's stinger pierce straight into his arm.

"W-Wha..?" It had happened so fast that he didn't have time to react, and only looked up with blurred vision when he saw Tsukimi looking down at the scene with Trunks, both wide-eyed at what they were witnessing.

_"That's him! The monster that stole my time machine!"_ Trunks was in a small state of shock when he finally got the chance to see the monster up-close... He was the creature he could faintly remember beating him and taking his time machine.

"Y-YUUKI!" Tsukimi yelled at the top of her lungs, swiftly flying down as fast as she could and formed one of her spirit swords in her hand, bringing it down and cutting off the bio-android's tail in one movement, making the creature cry out mostly from shock.

_"I CAN'T LET HIM KILL THEM! I WON'T!"_ That was the only thought going through Tsukimi's mind at that moment, she quickly lunged at Cell, trying to attack him with her spirit sword as quickly as she could, and managed to cut his arm and legs a couple of times but was still disoriented from lack of sleep and was unable to land a clean blow.

Yuuki's eyes were wide when he saw that Tsukimi was attacking Cell with everything that she had in her, all he could hear were her screams of pure rage and hatred.

He had never seen Tsukimi like this before...

Looking down at his arm, he quickly pulled out the stinger that was sticking out of his arm, surprisingly enough, it only seemed to be a small flesh wound, and didn't hurt that much. Not compared to the beating he had recently endured.

"Holy shit! You go Tsukimi!" Kasumi called out as she began regaining her sight, watching with the other kids in a state of shock as they saw how hard Tsukimi was trying to kill the creature in front of her... It was as if her very life depended on it, that one miscalculated move could spell her end.

"I've never seen her like this before." Yuuki managed to speak, holding the small bleeding wound on his arm but was more focused on the match between Tsukimi and Cell than his arm.

Every scream rung in her ears, every horrific image she was forced to look through, replying in her mind like a video on repeat.

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" With every scream, she tried to cut Cell with hr spirit sword, but her vision was beginning to distort due to her exhaustion and was seeing doubles for a few moments, when she faltered, Cell was still trying to dodge her attacks, but found himself with little room to counter with an attack and she showed no signs of backing down anytime soon.

"Hey you guys!" Looking up, Yuuki and the others saw Krillin, Tien, Piccolo, and Vegeta arriving at the scene, when she looked away for a moment, Tsukimi turned back to see that Cell had already jumped into the air once more, launching another blinding solar flare attack, blinding the bow-wearing girl as the green bio-android began to make his escape.

_"There are too many now, once I get stronger, I'll return for them. Especially for the girl, she will make an excellent power source."_

"Augh! Damn it! And I just got my vision back! Damn it!" Kasumi cursed, already rubbing her eyes.

When Tsukimi had regained her vision, she growled sharply when she saw that Cell was already gone. "GET BACK HERE DAMN IT!" She yelled at the top of her lungs before falling to her knees, panting as the toll of her attack began to show itself on her body.

"Tsukimi!" Yuuki was the first to rush towards the girl, the other Z fighters could only look on with slight shock, at both the android's appearance and the way Tsukimi had taken him on.

"Please we already got this in the bag, this is exactly what I wanted to happen! I knew Tsukimi was gonna show up and kick Cell's ass, making him escape! That's phase one of my plan!" The tanned girl said with a devilish smirk. Leaving Mamoru with a look of surprise, worry, and unease all rolled into one expression.

_"...She couldn't have really planned this... Could she?"_

"Damn it! Damn it all!" Tsukimi growled, punching the ground. Just the thought of letting Cell escape from her like that was infuriating her to no end.

"Tsukimi, are you alright?" Yuuki walked over, and immediately, Tsukimi's eyes trailed to the bleeding wound on Yuuki's arm. "I should be asking you that question. Are you alright? What about the others?"

"Don't worry we're all alright but Tsukimi... What's going on with you? You've been acting strange for a while, and I've never seen you attack someone like that before." Tsukimi could only look away from the expression of concern and caring Yuuki wore on his face.

She couldn't tell him the truth. All that would do is cause him unnecessary worrying. And that was the last thing he needed right now.

"I'm fine, don't worry. I just had a bad dream before I came and woke up in a bad mood. That's all." Tsukimi began picking herself up and brushing herself off, but Yuuki knew that something else was going on.

And now he knew that right now, asking wasn't going to get him anywhere. And he could plainly see that Tsukimi was tired and needed more rest. "Alright, well let's get you back to Kame house so you can get some rest alright?" He gave Tsukimi a small smile as she nodded. "Alright, sure."

Gerome continued to look at the path he was sure Cell had taken to escape from them. Piccolo, Tien, and Krillin decided to go after him. But after seeing Cell, that raised a whole new set of questions in his mind.

Will he end up like Cell? He was sure he wasn't created for the sake of protection, and he didn't want to kill either so now, he wasn't sure what his purpose was in this world.

Shaking his head slightly, he looked to Kimiko and saw that she was still a little shocked about everything that had happened. He wasn't sure if someone like her was suited to this lifestyle, she honestly didn't seem like a fighter to him.

But right now, he had more important things to deal with. "Trunks. While Akihiko, Kimiko and I were looking through the doctor's lab. We found this." Gerome looked to Kimiko, who nodded and handed Gerome the capsule with the blueprints for Android 17 inside.

"They are blueprints to Android 17's design. Android 13 is built in the same way so it is possible to create a shut-down switch for them." Gerome handed the capsule to Trunks who looked shocked at what he said.

"And you're sure about this?" He looked at the capsule in his hand before looking back at Gerome. "Yes. You should hurry and put those to good use."

"Right, you guys should rest up for a bit, I won't be long!" With that said, Trunks began flying off to give the blueprints to his mother while the other kids watched after him.

"Mmmm-mm~! Man that boy has a sweet ass! Ah~! Tsukimi you really do have good taste in men." Kasumi smirked, only making Tsukimi blush and glare at her. "Shut it, I'm not in the mood."

"Are you coming with us Gerome?" Kimiko asked, seeing Akihiko waiting for her as the others began heading back to Kame house.

"No. I shouldn't. I don't really fit in well with the rest of you." Gerome replied simply, making Kimiko think for a small moment before saying. "Well if we're there, chances are that Satoshi and Hotaru will find us there and you can see them again to make sure the programming has worn off."

Gerome glanced back at Kimiko for a moment. She did have a point. And if he could get those two in his side, he could possibly keep the other androids at bey while Goku recovered.

"Very well." Kimiko smiled softly as she took Gerome's hand and started flying into the sky with him. "I knew you would come around. And thank you for saving me back there."

"I was only doing what I knew had to be done." Gerome continued to look forward but took on last glance at Kimiko, he could see unease and worry on her face.

He wasn't sure why, but even if he couldn't find out his purpose in life, he would take comfort in knowing that he prevented someone as kind as Kimiko from being killed in battle.

* * *

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay with this chapter, things have been hectic and ugh! I just wasn't happy with how this chapter came out but don't worry the next one will be better and filled with more Gerome! **

**So don't forget to take my character poll and thanks for reading! ^^**


	20. Chapter 19

_"I am beside myself. I still can't keep up with the others when it comes to the fighting but at the same time, I'm too weak to even send myself home."_ Kimiko was sitting at the kitchen table at Master Roshi's home, looking down at the cup of tea she had made in an attempt to settle her nerves from earlier.

Every time something bad were to happen while she was at home, Chives would make her a cup of tea and it always seemed to wash all of her worries away.

Taking a small sip from the cup, the short-haired girl breathed out a defeated sigh. Not even tea could help settle her nerves after what had happened earlier.

Lifting one of her hands, Kimiko could see that she was still trembling slightly. Just a mere few minutes ago, she had been saved from certain death by Gerome. Chances are that if he hadn't been there, she wouldn't have been so fortunate.

_"I'm shaking just like that time..."_ She breathed out a small sigh, placing her hand on her chest in an attempt to calm her nerves down once again. But only met with the still-pounding sound of her heart against her chest.

"Hey Kimiko, you doing okay over here?" Kimiko jumped slightly when she felt Kasumi place her hand on her shoulder, only to smile softly back at her friend and nod. "Yes, I'm alright. I just needed a cup of tea to settle my nerves a bit, that's all."

"Well don't worry. Pretty soon all of this crap will be done with and we can go home and you can go back to your carefree life as a beautiful princess." Kasumi chuckled, sitting down next to Kimiko and using a joking tone in her voice.

"I suppose so but still... I feel like I should be a better help to the rest of you. But all I've done is get in the way of things." The short-haired girl let out another melancholy sigh, picking up her cup of tea and taking another sip from it.

"Oh please girl, you are not getting in the way, and besides. Everything went exactly how I planned it. I knew that if you were there. Cell would go after you first being the easiest target. That would make Gerome jump into action and tell us to scatter, that would make Cell use the solar flare to blind us and then he'd go after Yuuki next. Which would have made Tsukimi go bat-shit crazy on him and held him off until the others got here where he was able to make his escape. Everything's going according to plan." Kasumi finished with a smug smirk on her face, leaving Kimiko to only look at her with slightly wide eyes.

"...You actually planned for all of that to happen?"

"Yep! All a part of my plan to finish off these damned androids. Even 18, I still have the bruise from where she punched me in the face the bitch." Kasumi hissed the last part, rubbing her cheek slightly.

Kimiko just looked at her in shock for a few more moments, she knew that Kasumi was a master of getting in people's heads and a master of manipulation but had no idea her skills were at this caliber!

"I really wish I could be more like you, Kasumi. You seem to be completely fearless in battle, something I am sorely lacking in." Kimiko sighed, only to see Kasumi wrap her arm around her shoulders and gesture to everyone else in the house. "Look, everything turned out perfect, nothing bad happened to us and we're all okay. And we're all gonna keep surviving until this is done with so don't worry."

Kimiko could see the others already talking happily among themselves, Mamoru telling jokes with Yamcha and Master Roshi, Yuuki in the process of wrapping his arm in bandages and Akihiko seemingly caught up in thought.

"I suppose you're right." Kimiko smiled softly but only started to look around when she saw that Gerome was nowhere to be seen. Getting up from her seat, she stepped outside and looked around and towards the sky, seeing a flight trail still fresh in the sky.

"Gerome..." She knew that the fight with Cell had raised a lot of questions in Gerome's mind and he was probably searching for answers but even she knew that right now it was very dangerous for him to actually go out by himself.

Lifting her trembling hand, Kimiko clenched her fist before beginning to fly in the same direction, following Gerome's flight trail to find where he was heading.

* * *

Gerome continued to fly through the sky, his red eyes scanning the ground under him until he spotted what he was looking for: The rubble of what used to be Dr. Gero's secret lab.

Once he landed on the ground, the bio-android began looking around the area. It looked as if the area was completely filled with rubble from the explosion that Trunks had caused earlier.

"There has to be something here." His only objective was finding some clue as to what made Dr. Gero want to create him in the first place.

After his encounter with Cell, all he could think about was the possibility of ending up like him. A power-hungry monster who only wanted to achieve perfection.

Hurting innocent people all for the sake of power, taking innocent lives, that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Once he began sifting through the rubble, Gerome's eyes were darting around every piece, just looking for some clue about his own existence, a document the Dr had typed, a computer chip from his master computer, something!

After hearing what sounded like footsteps, Gerome stopped searching and looked over his shoulder, seeing Kimiko walking towards him while being careful of the rubble on the ground.

"Gerome? Are you alright? I saw you leave Master Roshi's house in a hurry so I wanted to check on you." Letting out a small sigh, Gerome got up from the ground and brushed himself off.

"I'm fine. I came here to hopefully find some clue as to why Dr. Gero even bothered to create me. After seeing what became of Cell... I want to do everything I can from falling down the same path as him." Gerome clenched his fist as he finished.

His whole life he had known nothing but pain. Being a test dummy for other androids, being deemed a complete failure. And it wasn't until recently that he learned that there were others out there with the ability to display kindness.

And he wasn't about to let himself lose that one little bit of light after he had just found it.

"It'll be alright." Gerome looked over his shoulder when he saw Kimiko smile softly and place her hand on his shoulder.

"You are a kind person, Gerome. And honestly, it's okay if you don't know all of the answers to the questions you may have. No one does at first. But that is what we were placed on this Earth to find out. To find the meaning of life and to create our own paths. No one can change the path that you want to go down, only you can decide your own fate. No one else can." Behind that kind smile, Gerome could tell that there was something else weighing on Kimiko's mind. Her expression clearly showing it.

"Thank you Kimiko. But I can tell that something even more troubling is on your mind. Is there something wrong?" Kimiko looked away from the android's eyes for a second, closing her eyes.

But the moment she did, she could see the way her friends were all being beaten by the androids, and how she was completely powerless to stop it from happening or help her friends when they needed her the most.

Just thinking about the way they were beaten, lying on the ground, clearly in pain, was enough to make fresh tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes all over again.

"I-I'm terrified... I never had to deal with situations like this before." Kimiko clenched the hem of her dress tightly in her fists. Her tears already spilling over her cheeks and down her face.

"I just don't know what to do anymore... T-The fights will get harder, the enemies will get stronger... I don't want to see any of my friends die and I want to be of some help to them, but I'm afraid! I froze up twice already when the others needed me the most! I just don't know what to do anymore! I have a chance to return home, pretend nothing happened but I can't even bring myself to do that! I couldn't live with the knowledge that something happened to my friends while I was gone... I just couldn't.."

Gerome just looked at her with slight surprise. He knew that something had to be troubling her, but he didn't think that she was holding so many emotions back for such a long time now.

And for the first time, he honestly found himself feeling sympathy for someone. Seeing the way she was crying, the tears spilling down her face, the way she was obviously in a lot of pain over this issue, the feeling of her own weakness was weighing heavily on her shoulders.

But seeing all of that, honestly made him start to feel sad for her. Something he had never felt before.

"Kimiko." Looking up, Kimiko began wiping the tears from her eyes, trying to calm her crying down when she heard Gerome speaking to her.

"Despite what you may think, I know for a fact that you are a strong person. You have something that few possess now: A kind heart and a generous soul. And those are far more important to possess than just brute strength and can be just as powerful. That fact that you are still here now shows me just how strong you are. If you had already left, that would have proven that you were weak enough to abandon your friends so take pride in the fact that you have inner strength to rely on." When Gerome finished, he blinked once in surprise when he saw that Kimiko had actually hugged him, smiling happily now.

"Thank you Gerome. You're right, I was just worrying too much about everything that's happened." A small blush spread over Gerome's face, he had never felt this before. Someone actually wrapping their arms around you without the intention of hurting you.

It felt warm... And in a way, comforting as well.

"You're welcome." When Kimiko let Gerome go, she brushed herself off and wiped her eyes free of any lingering tears. "Oh, when we get back. Could you please not tell the others about this? I'm sure if they were to find out, I would just make them worry."

After seeing her smiling once more, and seeing that it was a genuine smile this time, Gerome couldn't help but smile slightly himself. "Sure. I have no intention of telling them. And thank you."

The answers were now clear to him, what Kimiko said was the truth. He didn't need to find the purpose of his creation. He needed to make the most out of the life that he was given, and change his life for the better, and help others who could not help themselves.

And he only had her to thank for giving him the answers to those burning questions.

But that joy was short-lived, when Gerome heard what sounded like footsteps, he quickly turned around and looked with wide eyes when he saw Android 13 walking towards them.

"We should hurry back to the others are, I'm sure it's almost time for Goku to-" Kimiko stopped mid-sentence when she saw the blonde android heading towards them, her eyes going wide as well.

"I'm only gonna ask once; do ya'll know where Son Goku is?" His tone was slightly impatient but he wore a smug smirk on his face as both Android 14, and 15 landed at his sides from the skies above, leaving the two to only look on in shock.

They were outnumbered and facing opponents much stronger than themselves...

* * *

**Sorry that this chapter's a little short compared to the others but I mostly just wanted to write with Gerome some more because he's becoming one of my favorite characters to write here! **

**Not to mention I am loving the relationship he's building with Kimiko! X3**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, please leave a review and take the poll on my profile! ^^**


	21. Chapter 20

Gerome's eyes were as wide as saucers, he was now staring down at Androids 13, 14, and 15. He was out numbered, and outmatched. He knew that if he were to try fighting them, then that would just lead to a hasty defeat.

He carefully took a step in front of Kimiko. And could tell that she was just as shocked and wary about getting into a fight as he was.

"I'm only gonna ask y'all once; do you know where Son Goku is?" Gerome could tell that android 13's tone was impatient, and that if they waited too long to give him an answer, that would just anger him even further.

"Kimiko, take this chance to run away. I will do what I can to hold them off." Gerome said softly to Kimiko, his eyes never leaving the three androids standing in front of him.

"You can't! You're completely outmatched!" Kimiko quickly replied. Even if she was scared, she just couldn't live with herself if she were to leave Gerome alone to be beaten by these three.

Narrowing his eyes, he knew that it was useless to try and argue with Kimiko right now. But that still left him with the issue of what to do about the androids standing in front of him. "We don't know where Son Goku is. Now let us pass, 13."

Android 13's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked from Gerome, to Kimiko, seeing the girl flinch slightly when his piercing blue eyes met her own. "Now that can't be right because I remember hearin' her mention his name." He pointed a finger towards Kimiko, who immediately felt her heart skip a beat in her chest.

"We're not leaving until you tell us where Goku is, even if we have to force it out of the two of you." Android 13 snapped his fingers, causing Androids 14 and 15 to crack their knuckles, already ready to fight against them if they needed to.

_"What do I do? I can't hold them all off on my own and protect her at the same time!"_ Gerome's eyes narrowed, he knew that he couldn't fight all three off on his own. And then there was the matter of the girl he was standing in front of, one of his first real friends whom was also in danger of being attacked by these three.

He was trying to think of a way out of this situation but it looked as though there were no ways out of this situation. If they tried to run, they would simply give chase, if they try to fight, they would just lose, there was no way out for them.

"I'm giving you two five seconds to tell us where Goku is or else." Android 13 glared down at the two, holding his right hand up. "One. Two."

When he began counting, Androids 14 and 15 began charging ki blasts in their hands, aimed at the two and ready to attack.

Kimiko only clenched one of her fists, she knew that she couldn't tell them where Goku was. Her friends were in the same place! And if Goku were to die, all of the hardships they've had to deal with so far would just be for nothing!

She could also see that Gerome was frantically trying to think of a way to get them out of this situation but the closer Android 13 got to the number five, the more frantic his expression became.

"Three... Four..." And just when it seemed that 13 had finished counting, he was suddenly blasted with a galick gun attack from behind. The blast seemed to not do much damage to him physically, but it was enough to blast the hat off his head and direct the androids attention towards their attacker.

"Yo! You wanna pick on someone, than come gt me 'ya bastards!" Kasumi was floating in the sky, cracking her knuckles with a pair of ki blasts in her hands, ready to attack again.

"Kasumi! You have to get away! They're dangerous!" Kimiko called out to the tanned girl who only smirked and smacked her rear a couple of times with her hand. "Come on big man! What's wrong? You can't attack a cute little girl like me?" She was obviously trying to provoke him, and only watched as Android 13 picked up his hat and placed it back on his head, glaring back at the tanned girl with an angrier expression.

"Little Missy, you best not be tryin' to get on my bad side or you're gonna regret it!"

"Or what? Come on you pieces of scrap metal! Come and get me! I'll even give you a free shot! Or are you all a bunch of wusses who can't even beat a girl?" Kasumi smirked, her hands at her hips and only dove out of the way of an energy blast that had ben fired by Android 13.

"Alright you asked for it! Get her!" He growled as all three Androids quickly started rushing towards Kasumi, only for her to smirk and begin flying away from them. "AHAHAHAHA~! Catch me if you can boys~!"

"We have to help her!" Gerome was about to fly after the four before feeling Kimiko grab his hand, stopping him.

"No. Don't worry. She will be fine, she is the demon queen after all." Kimiko smiled softly at him. She remembered what Kasumi had said earlier, that she had a plan to help deal with the android problem and knew in her heart that right now, trusting her was the right choice to make.

* * *

"WOAH! Y'all ain't gonna find out where Goku is from me like that!" Kasumi smirked, dodging another series of energy blasts from the three androids on her tail.

But as she continued to fly, she found it getting harder to dodge all three's attacks on her own, and that they were beginning to gain the upper hand, the latest blast from Android 13 had managed to graze her shoulder.

"Come on! Is that all ya' got, Bitch!" The tanned girl smirked, ignoring the bleeding from her right shoulder and took a small glance down at where she was.

_"Perfect! They just keep following me like a game of cat and mouse!"_ This was just what she wanted. By this time, she could tell that it would easily take a couple of hours for them to fly to Kame house, even at their full speed. But that wasn't her only reason for leading them to this area.

Kasumi quickly snapped out of her thoughts when another energy blast was fired her way, just barely missing her right arm. "Whoo~! You guys still can't get me!" She smirked, only to blink once when she saw Android 14 appear right in front of her, raising his large fist above her.

"Yo! Pick on someone your own size!" Android 14 was suddenly blasted with a powerful galick gun attack that was fired by Mamoru, who was quickly flying in from the west, and directing the large android's attention towards him.

_"Damn it! Getting in a fight will screw up my plan!"_ Kasumi thought to herself with a hiss. While she was grateful for Mamoru's interference, her plan was too important to let him screw up now.

"Hey! We both know where Goku is so you better catch us if you wanna know!" Kasumi quickly flew towards Mamoru, grabbing his arm and began flying away, making Android 13 begin to growl angrily. "Get them! Once we find out where Goku is, we're killin' them!"

With that said, the chase began once more, with Mamoru following after Kasumi. "Hey! Are you nuts?! Why the hell are you telling them that? Do you want to die?!"

"Hey! I had this handled by myself! I didn't ask you to come sticking your hair where it doesn't belong! It's your own fault for following me!" Kasumi shot back, her eyes still trailing towards the ground every so often to make sure she was still on the right track.

"What the hell choice did I have? I'm always being roped into your plans that always come back to bite me in the ass. I'm already used to it, and chances are that one of these days, you're gonna end up dragging me to hell with you, aren't you?" After hearing that, Kasumi smiled slightly, even when things looked bleak, she did take comfort in knowing that Mamoru would always be by her side to help her out.

"Still, thanks for earlier. But right now, you have to follow my lead, keep pissing them off because we're almost at the second phase of my plan." Kasumi finished with a devilish smirk on her face as she continued flying forward while dragging Mamoru along with her.

"Something tells me, I'm gonna regret following you."

* * *

Satoshi and Hotaru were in one of the more heavily forested areas. After hearing what Android 13 had to say, it left Satoshi with a lot to think about.

Was peace really worth taking the life of an innocent man?

Didn't taking a life just continue on the cycle of bloodshed until there is nothing left?

"So, what are we gonna do now? Chances are that 13 is still looking for Goku along with the rest of them. Where does that leave us? I don't wanna have to chase that guy around just to kill him, it sounds like too much work." The brunette looked back at her friend, seeing that he was still mentally debating on what he should do before getting up and taking a couple of steps forward.

"That's simple. We just have to get back to the others. Even if we are androids, I know you can't deny that you still care about them just like I do. They're our friends. And right now, they probably need our help too." Satoshi had a more determined expression on his face. Clenching one of his fists tightly as Hotaru let out a small sigh.

She was almost certain that the only reason he wanted to help them was for Kimiko's sake. "Fine. It's better than listening to what that old fart wanted us to do anyway." Even if she didn't like it, Hotaru still considered Satoshi to be the most important person in her life, and she would follow him even to the pits of hell and back just to make sure to protect him from the darkness that she was forced to endure in her youth.

"Now we just have to find them, but that's not gonna be easy. Those trackers only com with the fully-mechanical androids like 19." Satoshi sighed, only to look up with slight surprise, he could make out in the distance that Kimiko was flying away from somewhere with Gerome right next to her.

And the next second, a gust of wind blew past the two, causing them to look up and see that it was coming from Kasumi and Mamoru, who were in the middle of dodging and firing back ki blasts at androids 13, 14, and 15.

"Looks like they found us. So who should we deal with first?" Hotaru asked, still looking in the direction Kasumi and Mamoru had flown off in.

That was a hard choice. Of course he knew that helping Kasumi and Mamoru should come first, but he couldn't deny that it looked like Kimiko was in trouble too...

"Alright, you go after Kimiko and Gerome and I'll go help Kasumi and Mamoru. You're faster than me so you should be able to catch up with her more quickly than I can." Satoshi looked back at Hotaru who let out a small annoyed sigh.

Satoshi wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box, but he did know that there seemed to be some hostility between Hotaru and Kimiko that he wanted them to sort out. And since Gerome was there, he was sure that he would prevent any fights from breaking out.

And of course, he knew Hotaru couldn't handle Androids 13, 14, and 15 on her own. He would rather do the dirty work than risk her getting hurt.

"Alright, let's get going." With that said, Hotaru began speeding in the direction she saw Kimiko and Gerome heading in. She was glad to see that Gerome was safe but honestly wasn't too happy to spend time with Kimiko but would put up with it for Satoshi's sake.

_"You so owe me after this one, Satoshi!"_

Satoshi had already begun speeding off in the opposite direction, following closely after the androids that were coming into his view. After a lot of thinking, he now knew what he had to do.

_"I don't care if what Android 13 says makes me his enemy. I'm not about to let an innocent man die just for what he believes to be a better fate for the world! I'm going to do what I think is right! Even if I'm an android now, I'm going to do what I want to, not what anyone else tells me to!"_

He knew in his heart, that's what his parents would want to hear from him, they always encouraged him to do the right thing.

As he flew, the gold chain around his neck could barely be seen under his white shirt, the locket that his parents had left for him still close to his heart like they were.

* * *

Yuuki breathed out a small sigh, the other Z warriors had gone hunting for Cell. The last he saw of Kimiko was when he saw her go after Gerome. Soon after he saw Kasumi leave saying she was going to check on Kimiko with Mamoru following after Kasumi just mere minutes ago.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that something was going on. But he couldn't bring himself to check on them.

He was sitting on the black couch in Mastr Roshi's living room. Tsukimi ended up falling asleep once more, and like last time, was having another horrific nightmare.

At least that was what Yuuki could tell from the expression on her face. And ever since she had fallen asleep, Yuuki was sitting at her side, just keeping watch over her.

Tsukimi's brow was furrowed slightly, she was mumbling slightly in her sleep, and Yuuki could already see a thin layer of sweat covering her skin as she slept.

_"Tsukimi... I wish I knew what I could do for you."_ He hated feeling this way. Completely powerless, knowing that someone he cared for so much was in pain and he couldn't do anything to help her with it either.

Yuuki gently reached down, brushing some of Tsukimi's bangs out of her face. Only to bite his lip slightly when he saw that she had a small tear in the corner of her eye just threatening to fall.

After just seeing that, Yuuki could remember the horrific visions he saw during his fight with the androids. And was still questioning why he saw those images.

Tsukimi in the midst of a mental break down, tears streaming down her face from bloodshot eyes. Her body trembling with complete fear consuming her very being...

_"Why did I see that? I'd never seen anything so horrific in my life... But why did I see that just when I touched Tsukimi at that moment?"_ That was the question weighing heaviest on his mind.

No matter how much he thought about it, he still couldn't figure out why he had seen that vision. And was even beginning to wonder if it was just a random vision, or a premonition of some sort.

Getting up from the couch, Yuuki spotted Akihiko simply looking out the window with his own concerned expression on his face. He figured that he must have been worried about Kimiko since she left.

Akihiko took his own hero license out of his pocket, his eyes carefully scanning over the reflective orange card. Ever since their arrival in this new time line, he could feel Kimiko's unease about being here.

Through every fight, he could only see her concerns growing more and more on her face, despite the fact that she didn't say a word about it. He still found himself to be concerned about her.

He made her promise that if things were to get too tough, then she would press that button and return home safely. But now he was wondering if she even had the strength to send herself away.

Kimiko was always the type to put the well-beings of others before herself. A trait that Akihiko did endear but also found to be one of her flaws and even feared that trait would lead her to be taken advantage of by others who only saw her as a foolish heiress.

His eyes narrowed down at the car,d breathing out a small sigh and continued to look out the window. He had yet to feel her power level drop but he was still concerned. "Kimiko... Will you really keep your promise?"

"Hey, you okay?" Akihiko was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Yuuki walk over to him, and taking a seat next to him.

"Yes. The recent events that have taken place have simply left me a little stressed. It is nothing to worry about." He said in his usual formal tone. Even while talking with his closest friend, that just seemed to be a habit of his, much to Kasumi's chagrin.

"Well you did look a little worried. Don't though, I'm sure that Kimiko's fine. She has Gerome with her, so she's in good hands." Yuuki offered a kind smile, even though he was still struggling with his own concerns, he was able to put them in the back seat when it came to the concerns of his friends.

"Do you truly believe that Kimiko is cut out for this type of lifestyle? Fighting for her life against opponents doubling over her in strength and size?" Akihiko suddenly asked, making Yuuki glance down at the table. That was not an easy question to ask but he had thought about it.

"I know Kimiko isn't like Tsukimi or Kasumi. She's more delicate. And at first, I really didn't think she was going to go along with this. But the fact that she's still here should answer that question shouldn't it? You should have some more faith in her, Akihiko. She may be kind but I can tell that we just haven't seen what she's capable of yet." Akihiko looked after Yuuki for a moment before starting to chuckle.

"I expected that sort of response from you." He said as Yuuki pouted a little. "Well it's not like I-"

"Thank you, Yuuki. That alone is enough to ease my mind." Akihiko finished with a small smile. For some reason, whenever his friends were there to help him with his troubles, no matter how bad they seemed, they always seemed to put it into perspective.

"Sure, it's no problem." Yuuki smiled back, only to look out the window when he saw Kimiko and Gerome land on the shore of the island, but much to his surprise, he had just spotted Hotaru landing after them. "Hotaru? What's she doing here?"

Once the boys spotted the brunette girl, they quickly headed outside, seeing Kimiko looking at Hotaru with slight surprise on her featured. "Oh, Hotaru. I honestly didn't expect to be seeing you again so soon."

"Don't think too much into this. I only came here because Satoshi told me to make sure you two were alright." Hotaru said in a simple, no-nonsense tone of voice. Her icy blue eyes trailed over to Gerome, who looked to be visibly relieved to see her.

"I'm glad to see that you're alright, Hotaru." Hotaru simply crossed her arms and glanced away before answering. "It's nice to see you too Gerome."

"Oh! Akihiko! Yuuki! We have to hurry and help Kasumi! I felt her power level drop a little while ago, I'm worried something bad may have happened to her!" Kimiko suddenly said when she saw the boys walking over.

"Kasumi? What is she doing out there? What's going on?" Yuuki asked, only for Gerome to answer him next. "While I was searching the rubble of Gero's laboratory, Android 13 had found us. Without Kasumi's interference, I fear we may not be here right now. She lured the three away from us but her power level has dropped slightly since she left. We should go check on her."

"Mamoru went after her, but if Android 13 is after them, we have to get going!" Yuuki said, only to look over his shoulder when he saw Tsukimi coming out of Kame house, already fully awake.

"Right, come on. We have to get going. Of course we have to clean up a mess Kasumi made." She sighed, tightening the ribbon in her hair only to see Yuuki put his hand on her shoulder. "Wait a second Tsukimi, you can't go right now, you're obviously exhausted!"

"I'm fine Yuuki, besides we have to go help those two, if we don't..." Tsukimi trailed off slightly, biting her lip only for Yuuki to grab her right hand and looked deep into her eyes. "It's alright. You just need some more rest. The others will be fine, this is Kasumi we're talking about, you know she's insane, I'm sure they'll come any minute now." Yuuki gave Tsukimi a more confident look.

Tsukimi just looked at him for a moment before sighing, she couldn't understand why but in her heart, she knew that she should trust Yuuki and that everything would work out.

"Besides, we can't leave Goku defenseless, we have to stay here in case the other androids show up. And speaking of androids, where's Satoshi, Hotaru?" Yuuki looked at Hotaru who was looking out at the blue oceans surrounding them.

"He followed after Kasumi and Mamoru, he just sent me to keep an eye on Kimiko and Gerome." Once again, she used that same simple tone she often used.

"You see? Even with Satoshi following them, I'm sure they'll be fine Tsukimi. Now come on, let's get you back inside." Yuuki said as Tsukimi just nodded, following him. "Alright fine, but I'm telling you I'm fine."

But Yuuki knew she was less than fine. Something else was going on, the visions he saw, her constant nightmares, they had to be connected in some way but he couldn't figure out how though.

_"I hope they're alright though. Kasumi, Mamoru, Satoshi."_

* * *

"Damn it Kasumi! How much longer do we need to lead these guys away?!" Mamoru yelled, just barely managing to block a ki blast from Android 13 and fired his own back while still following along with Kasumi.

"Don't worry, this plan's a winner. That, and I have the devil's luck on my side." Kasumi finished with a smirk, holding a black crystal pendant she was wearing around her neck.

_"Mom gave me this necklace just before she died. And I carry it everywhere with me. I know that this is going to work, as long as she's watching over me."_ Kasumi thought to herself, still holding the pendant in her hand.

It was the last keepsake she had of her dead mother, and her most cherished possession as well. As long as she had that pendant with her, she knew that every plan she would come up with would be a winner.

_"Remember Kasumi. No matter what you do with your life, you will always make me proud of you. And I'll be watching over you for as long as I can. Make me proud."_

After remembering her mother's passing words, Kasumi smiled slightly and suddenly came to a screeching halt, with Mamoru suddenly stopping after her, and watching as she turned to face the angry androids.

"You're gonna tell us where Goku is now or you're gonna be goin' to hell before he does!" Android 13 growled, holding a large ki ball in his hand, ready to attack at any second.

"Oh really? You sure you have the balls to actually kill an innocent girl like me, oh how scary~!" Kasumi continued to taunt the androids, only for Mamoru to quickly get in front of her. "Quit pushing your luck Kasumi! We're facing death here! Are you crazy?!"

That earned Mamoru a swift smack upside his head as Kasumi floated past him with an evil smirk. "Like a fox." Was all she said before facing the three androids and sighing. "Alright, you got me. It'll be impossible for us to hide Goku from you guys right now anyway. If you'll spare us, I'll be more than happy to tell you where he is." Mamoru's eyes went completely wide, looking at Kasumi with complete disbelief.

"A-ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE KASUMI?!"

"Alright there they are!" At that moment, Satoshi was finally able to catch up with the group once they stopped.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Android 13 glared back at the tanned girl, who only smirked in reply. "Right now, Goku is at Kame house. On a small island about a couple hundred miles from here. He's resting and completely vulnerable to being killed right now."

Both Mamoru and Satoshi looked at Kasumi with dropped jaws and wide eyes. They couldn't believe that Kasumi had actually revealed that information to the enemy!

"K-Kasumi!" Mamoru yelled as Android 13's eyes trailed from Mamoru's shocked and fearful expression to Satoshi's and smirked slightly. They couldn't be lying with those expressions.

"Come on, we know where he is now." 13 smirked as he began flying in the direction of Kame house, with 14 and 15 following close behind and Kasumi watching with an amused expression as the three flew off.

"ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Both Mamoru and Satoshi yelled at Kasumi once Android 13 was gone, only for Kasumi to look at Satoshi with a rather bored look. "Oh hey, when'd you get here?"

"KASUMI! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU JUST DID?! HE'S GOING TO KILL GOKU! HE'S GOING TO KILL AN INNOCENT MAN WITH A LOVING FAMILY AND FRIENDS! DON'T YOU CARE?!" Satoshi yelled, only earning a bored yawn from Kasumi as she turned away from him.

"Man, you two bitch a lot." She said before beginning to fly after Android 13.

"Wait a second! What the hell was that Kasumi?! Are you insane?!" Mamoru yelled after Kasumi, only for her to smirk back at the two boys. "Like a fox! Like a god-damned fox! Now if you two don't have anything better to do, just follow me, and I'm gonna show you two a once-in-a-lifetime show." Both Mamoru and Satoshi just looked on with shock and disbelief.

Kasumi had just completely betrayed Goku, and possibly the rest of the world but why did she seem so confident?!

With a sigh, Mamoru and Satoshi began following after Kasumi. "If we die Kasumi, I am never gonna let you hear the end of it!"

"Less bitching, more flying!"

Satoshi was still in a small daze from shock, the only thought running though his mind as he flew after Mamoru was; "What the hell did I just get into?"

* * *

**Okay here's chapter 20! I'm really happy to get this chapter done, mostly because I just love writing with Kasumi! XD**

**Anyway, please review the story, take my character poll on my profile and look forward to the next chapter! ^^  
**


	22. Chapter 21

Sitting outside of Kame house, Kimiko breathed out a small sigh just mentally going over how long she and the others had been waiting for Kasumi, Mamoru, and Satoshi to return safely. And the more time passed, the more concerned she would become.

And she wasn't the only one, taking a glance around her, she could see Hotaru leaning against a palm tree, taking occasional glances at the sky to see if Satoshi was going to fly over or not.

Gerome on the other hand, was simply sitting in the sand, deep in thought about the events that had just taken place.

Glancing down at one of her hands, Kimiko could still see it trembling slightly. Yet again, Gerome had to save her from certain death. And this time it was because of her own carelessness that they had been thrust into such a situation in the first place.

Things couldn't go on like this. She didn't decide to come back to this time line just to be a spectator, she knew that she had to become stronger but that was easier said than done.

_"Why am I still trembling?"_ The more she thought about it, the more she was beginning to think that maybe she should have left when she had the chance.

Hotaru's ice blue eyes were still scanning the sky, tapping her foot impatiently while waiting for Satoshi to show up. _"Come on already Satoshi! I'm not gonna sit around and wait for you all day!"_ She honestly didn't feel comfortable being away from him for too long, and being around his friends only made that feeling even stronger.

Taking a small glance over her shoulder, her eyes peered into Kimiko, seeing the troubled look on her face, the way she was looking at her trembling hand, just the thought of it made her grit her teeth slightly.

_"Look at her, feeling sorry for herself over there. What could Satoshi possibly see in a girl like her! She's nothing but a weakling! And all she'll do is break his heart!"_ Her fist clenched slightly at that thought. That was the one thing she was never going to let happen.

She was never going to let Satoshi feel the cold sting of a broken heart, especially when dealt by someone like Kimiko.

Breathing out a sigh, Hotaru took one more look at the sky before growling slightly. "Forget this! I'm going after him!" And with that, was about to take off into the sky before suddenly feeling her wrist being grabbed from behind her. "Wait!"

Turning around, her eyes narrowed slightly when she saw that it was Kimiko who had grabbed her wrist, stopping her from flying off. "What do you want?" Her tone was colder than usual, her ice blue eyes piercing back into Kimiko's.

The short-haired girl hesitated for a moment before glancing away slightly. Just to avoid eye contact. "...I know that we don't exactly get along too well Hotaru. But you cannot deny that things are dangerous right now. We have to work together if we all want to go home together. So please... Would you be willing to work together with us?" Kimiko looked back up as she finished, looking straight back into Hotaru's icy orbs.

The brunette clenched her free fist slightly at her side before roughly snatching her hand back from the girl. "Let me make one thing clear; I don't care about you- no, that isn't it. I honestly cannot stand even the sight of you. You keep talking like all we need to do is work together and things will be alright, well you need to wake the hell up, Princess! We may die here! And even if we don't, people are still going to kill each other, sell themselves, beat each other on the cold streets without anyone else just batting an eye at it! The world is a dark place, and eventually, not even your prissy little perfect life that you used to live and still live- are going to be able to protect you from it." Kimiko could only flinch slightly at how harsh of a tone Hotaru was using, every word seemed to just stab into her in the worst possible way.

"What are you even doing here Kimiko? You're not a fighter, you're nothing but a spoiled little heiress who's never had to lift a finger. If you're half as smart as the kids at school say you are, then you better go home now. Because to be honest, I don't give a damn if you or anyone else here gets killed." All Kimiko could do was stand in place, slightly wide-eyed after processing everything Hotaru said.

"That's enough Hotaru." Gerome began walking over, placing a hand on Kimiko's shoulder. "Strength is not all that matters in the world."

"You should know better than anyone how harsh this world can be Gerome. You know that she isn't meant to be here. She can't even kill a fly let alone a killer android!"

"But the fact does remain that there is strength in numbers, Hotaru." Looking to the left, Hotaru spotted Akihiko coming out of Kame house with Yuuki and Tsukimi following behind him, all three standing by Kimiko's sides along with Gerome.

"You have your way of doing things, Hotaru. But even if you do not care for our lives, we care for yours as well as Gerome's and Satoshi's. Kimiko is important to our mission here, and you have no right to say otherwise." Akihiko spoke simply, placing his hand on Kimiko's free shoulder, causing a light blush to taint her cheeks.

"Akihiko..."

"You know you all are thinking the same thing as me. I honestly don't care, but if you guys are really her friends why are you keeping her here, knowing that she could be killed?" Hotaru crossed her arms over her chest, only for Yuuki to take a step forward.

"Because we have faith in our friends. That's one of the reasons why we haven't gone after Kasumi, Mamoru, and Satoshi. We know that they can take care of themselves and that they will be alright. And we have the same faith in Kimiko, she's a strong person. And she's just as important to this mission as the rest of us are."

"Even if you don't want to be a part of it, you're one of us since Satoshi is your friend. So you might as well start trying to get along with the rest of us if we're going to survive here." Tsukimi said as Kimiko looked from Gerome, to Akihiko, to Yuuki, and to Tsukimi.

A smile spread over her face and small tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She never thought that her presence actually meant that much to her friends, and that they honestly didn't consider her a burden at all.

"Thank you everyone.." She smiled softly, wiping the tears from her eyes only for them to widen slightly when she saw the way that Hotaru was looking at the group.

She wasn't glaring but rather, through her stoic expression, Kimiko could see that there was loneliness buried deep beneath her eyes. A look that she remembered having herself before having met her friends.

"Do what you want, I'm going to find Satoshi." And with that said, Hotaru quickly began flying away from the island, all while gritting her teeth slightly. _"It's just like that time... The odds are against me, no one on my side. No one willing to help. It's just like back then... Satoshi really is all I have.."_

With that single thought in mind, Hotaru continued to speed off into the sky, with the rest of the group only watching her leave, Kimiko in particular still watching her trail for a moment longer.

_"Hotaru... You're lonely aren't you? You really do want to be our friend but what is stopping you?"_

"Kimiko? Are you alright?" Hearing Tsukimi's voice, Kimiko shook her head slightly and smiled softly. "Yes, thank you for that. But I hope that she will be alright on her own. Hopefully Goku wakes up soon so we can follow after her and find Kasumi and the others."

"They will be fine. Kasumi is insane, and I'm sure that right now... She has something evil in her mind that she's going to exploit." Yuuki finished with a confident smile that at the same time, seemed to be uneasy and slightly fearful.

"We may have a way of contacting her." Akihiko spoke up, taking his Hero License out of his pocket. "What are you talking about?" Tsukimi asked curiously as Akihiko then picked up her own Hero License from her hand.

"These cards have a special mechanism in them that emit certain types of electrical wavelengths that give Bulma and Trunks the ability to monitor our health. If I can alter the frequencies, I may be able to make them double as communicators as well." Akihiko looked down at the two cards in his hands, only for the others to look at him with skeptical expressions.

"Okay, I know you're smart but not even you can pull something like that off, Akihiko." Yuuki said, only to see Akihiko easily pry off the reflective orange casing to his card first. "Prepare to be proven wrong."

* * *

"Just what the hell were you think Kasumi?!" Satoshi growled, grabbing Kasumi by the collar of her top, only for the tanned girl to look back at him with a rather un-amused expression on her face.

"You just doomed us all and you don't even care! What the hell are you planning?! To get us all killed?!" Satoshi yelled, only for Kasumi to glare slightly at him. "First off; quit your bitching already, you're giving me a headache with that walking ball of hair over there! Second, I am not revealing my plans because that goes against my code, and third, let go of me already you're twisting my bra." She stated calmly, but Satoshi could plainly see the dark rage aura that was building up around her and slowly let her go.

"...Sorry. But still! You pretty much doomed us!" Satoshi yelled again, with Mamoru floating next to him. "You've done some pretty stupid shit before but this takes the cake Kasumi!"

At this point, Kasumi was already irritated with the yelling that the two had been doing ever since their encounter with Android 13, and with a growl, grabbed the two by the backs of their heads and slammed their foreheads together.

"THE NEXT TIME I HEAR WHINING FROM YOU TWO, SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR FAMILY JEWELS, GOT IT?!" At hearing that, the two boys flinched and nodded slightly while rubbing their sore foreheads.

"Please, I'm not an amateur. I know what I'm doing here." Kasumi brushed herself off, adjusting her top slightly before looking inside her armored vest and pulling out her data card. "The hell? Why is this thing vibrating?" Looking around the Hero License for a bit, Kasumi pressed the button on the back, only to hear a small amount of static before hearing what sounded like Akihiko's voice.

_"Kasumi, can you hear me?"_

"Oh Bitchin'! These things are phones too?!" Kasumi grinned as Mamoru and Satoshi flew over, looking at their own cards. "How the hell are these phones? Where do you dial on them?" Mamoru asked carelessly, looking around his own Hero License.

_"Kasumi. Tell me where you are right now. Are you alright?"_ Akihiko asked again, only for Kasumi to smirk slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why, do you already miss me?"

_"And Mamoru and Satoshi?"_ Akihiko sighed before asking that question, only for Kasumi to look at the two cluelessly looking at their Hero Licenses, trying to figure out how they can work as communicators.

"Yeah, the idiots are fine. But hey, since I got you, go have Yuuki check on Goku in about five minutes. It's already time for you guys to get off your break because things are gonna start going down." Kasumi smirked before pressing the button again, hanging up before Akihiko could reply.

"Hey, dumb and dumber! Come on already! Or we're gonna miss the show!" The tanned girl smirked as she began flying off. The two boys blinked a couple of times before starting to follow her. "Hey wait a sec Kasumi! Why'd you tell them it's time to leave Kame house? Goku's still sleeping." Mamoru asked curiously.

"Don't you worry your hairy little head about it. Things will work themselves out. The Demon Queen never fails to get her target." Kasumi took her Hero License out of her vest and smirked when she saw what time it was. "Come on or you're gonna get caught in the crossfire!" She smirked, picking up the pace and only leaving the two boys to exchange confused looks as they followed her.

* * *

"It figures that she would hang up before I finished talking." Akihiko sighed, putting his card in his pocket. "Wow! I can't believe you actually did it Akihiko! I take back what i said!" Yuuki was looking at his card which Akihiko had just recently adjusted.

"So these will really work as communicators now?" Kimiko asked, looking at her own card in her hand. "Yes and they have a range at about 400 kilometers. So we can stay in touch with each other." Akihiko explained simply, only to see Yuuki looking at the second floor window of Kame House.

"I wonder why she said I should check on Goku?" And just as he said that, Yuuki's eyes widened when he saw the door open in that room, and Goku easily jump out from the house and headed to the shore side. Closing his eyes for a moment, Goku clenched his right fist tightly, only to quickly punch the air, causing a very large rift to divide the water of the sea right in front of them, causing a small earth quake around them.

"Wow... He's incredible..." Needless to say, Yuuki was in complete awe. He had always admired Goku and never even imagine that a single punch would be enough to make the Earth shake!

"Oh Goku!" It wasn't after that small shock wave had passed that Chi-Chi jumped down from the same window as well, lovingly embracing her husband, clearly overjoyed at seeing her husband alive and well.

"Hey Chi-Chi, I'm sorry I worried you. But everything's alright now." Goku smiled softly down at the woman who had tears of happiness sparkling in her eyes.

Yuuki couldn't help but smile softly, seeing how happy they were together. _"I wonder if Mom and Dad were ever like that?"_ Just the thought of his father made a small twinge of pain run through his chest. But he was easily able to shake it off. Now wasn't the time to be overly emotional.

Not when lives depended on it.

"Hey you guys." Goku smiled back at the kids as Yuuki and Tsukimi were the first to walk towards him. "Don't worry, I know the whole situation and I have a plan."

"Wait! Before you go, we want to go with you too!" Tsukimi quickly spoke up, only for Yuuki to look at her with slight concern once more. He knew that she was both physically and mentally exhausted, and probably wasn't in the right condition to be training but arguing with Tsukimi was nearly impossible.

"Yeah. We want to get stronger too, please take us with you." Yuuki said, only for the older man to smile slightly down at the two. "Alright. I can tell that all of you have been fighting really hard. If you think you're ready, then come on."

"Are you guys coming with us?" Yuuki turned to look at Akihiko, Kimiko, and Gerome as Akihiko shook his head slightly. "No, we are going to go after Hotaru and catch up with her and hopefully find Kasumi and the others as well. Good luck in your training." Akihiko said as he and Yuuki high-fived.

"I know you both are going to do great." Kimiko smiled as Gerome nodded slightly.

"Thanks you guys. Come on Yuuki, we need to get going." Tsukimi said with a small smile of her own. Her mind completely set on being ready to fight against Cell and the androids. Getting stronger was now her top priority.

"Right, good luck you guys!" Yuuki smiled as he walked back over towards Goku and Tsukimi. "alright, grab on." Goku held out his open hand as both kids grabbed onto it, and in a matter of seconds, the three had completely vanished.

* * *

_"Why did Satoshi insist that I follow her?! Oh just thinking about her pisses me off!"_ Hotaru thought to herself with a growl, only to look ahead and smile lightly when she saw that she had caught up with Satoshi, Mamoru, and Kasumi. "Satoshi!"

"Oh there you are Hotaru, so how's Kimiko?" Satoshi smiled, and the moment her name was uttered, the smile melted off Hotaru's face to be replaced by hr usual scowl. "Just fine." She muttered, crossing her arms.

That's good, I was a little worried for a minute. But Kasumi, are you ever gonna tell us what this plan is?" Satoshi asked, only for Kasumi to smirk and point down to the ground.

"The ground? What does the ground have to do with-" Mamoru stopped and his eyes widened when he saw Androids 17, 18, and 16, standing across from Androids 13, 14, and 15 on a nearby rock formation.

"Hmph, this should be good for a warm up." Android 17 said with a small smirk on his face as Android 13 straightened his hat. "My thoughts exactly, Kid."

"...No freaking way...' Mamoru said with slightly wide eyes, the six red ribbon androids were all about to fight each other right below them!

* * *

**Not one of my best chapters but oh well! I hope you all liked it! ugh! This is one of those chapters that you keep rewriting but it never turns out the way you want it to! ****  
**

**Oh well, the next one will be better because of android fights! Look forward to it! X3**


	23. Chapter 22

"I...I can't believe what we're seeing..." Hotaru's blue eyes were wide in shock, an expression of pure awe stuck on her face.

The same was true for Mamoru and Satoshi, who were both floating at her sides and looking at the same incredible sight in front of them.

"You might as well face that you're out of our league, Kid!" Android 13 had rushed towards Android 17, roughly punching the blue-eyed teen in the face and sent him spiraling towards a rock formation, only for Android 17 to stop at the last minute and begin flying back towards Android 13, firing a series of energy blasts at the blonde android.

"The one who ought to face facts is you!" While Android 13 was blinded by the dust that the energy blasts had brought up, Android 17 kicked him harshly in the stomach before kneeing the other android in the face and roundhouse-kicking him away from him.

"Heh, gotta admit, it's been a while since I last had this much fun in a fight." 13 wiped the small amount of blood that was in the corner of his mouth and finished with a slightly confident smirk and with that, quickly rushed towards Android 17 for another punch.

Above them were Androids 18 and 15, the smaller purple android was flying after 18 and firing beams from his eyes. 18 was quick to dodge every attack and continued to fire her own energy blasts back at the smaller android, and with a small smirk, rushed towards him from above and drop-kicked him towards the ground.

And below them, Android 16 was swiftly dodging every punch that was thrown at him by Android 14. The two large androids were nearly the same in height and in terms of strength. Android 16 caught one of 14's punches, leading to a power struggle between the two, just waiting to see who would cave in first.

"Kasumi... How the hell did you know something like this was going to happen? I can't even keep up with them all!" Mamoru was moving his neck around, his eyes darting around and between all three fights, just trying to keep up with the android's rapid pace and failing.

"There is no possible way that you could have actually planned all of this. I know that you're manipulative but not to this extent." Hotaru said, crossing her arms as she glanced at Kasumi. Who was sitting on a nearby rock formation with an amused smirk on her face, her eyes trailing from one fight to the next.

"You obviously still doubt the kind of power I have. I did in fact, plan all of this. Even if you don't want to believe me. You see, all of it started after I found out that it was because of the androids that Kimiko had to spill her holy water- I mean tears. And that just couldn't go unpunished." Kasumi stood up and placed her hands on her hips before continuing.

"After that, all I had to do was some careful planning and timing. Starting from when I saw Kimiko leave Kame house to check on Gerome since I knew for a fact that she'd look for him. And considering how Gerome is, I knew where he'd end up too. After that, it was just a simple matter of luring Android 13 far enough away from Kame house and lead him and his lackies on this path that would end up leading to android 17 and his clan." All three just looked at Kasumi with looks of utter disbelief.

"There is no way that you could actually plan all of this out Kasumi! Just admit it, you got lucky and that's all this is!" Hotaru exclaimed, only for Kasumi to sigh and begin looking around at the fights taking place in front of her.

"In this exact spot, I knew that Androids 17, 16, and 18 would be heading here from about 117 miles due west, give or take a few meters. And since the remains of Gero's lab is about 206 miles in the opposite direction, I just had to make sure to get Androids 13, 14, and 15 here as fast as I could. And that's where messing with them got me. Once we were close enough to South City, I told them where Goku was. And the rest is what you're looking at here. All I had to do was change their courses and the rest is playing out in front of us. The androids will deal with themselves and problem solved." Kasumi finished with a smirk, looking down at the fights. "Dance my little puppets, dance~"

"Yeah right. You just don't want to admit that you got lucky." Hotaru said simply, crossing her arms over her chest. _"There's no way she could actually plan all of this... Is there?"_

"Why yes, there is a way for me to plan all of this and I just explained it. Believe me or not, I know what happened." Kasumi floated over to the three while smirking at the fighting going on.

"But what about Cell? In case you forgot, he's still running around, sucking down people like they were cans of beer." Mamoru pointed out, only to hear Kasumi chuckle under her breath.

"That's the best part. Once Cell gets here, he'll just get the crap beaten out of him in a six-to-one slaughter! And we get front-row seats to the whole show!"

"...You really did plan all of this out..." Satoshi's eyes were still wide from shock, he just couldn't wrap his mind around the possibility that someone could actually be so manipulative that they could orchestrate something like this right under his nose!

"Now if only you would use your powers for good instead of evil, we'd be doing great. But are you sure about this, Kasumi? I mean this isn't like filling the teacher's lounge with tartar sauce, these are lives you're toying with. This could be life and death. You understand that right?" Mamoru asked, looking at the tanned girl with a serious expression.

Kasumi just waved her hand dismissively as her tail curled around her waist. "Oh my poor, poor, hairy friend. You don't get it do you? Life is nothing but a game. You play your part, make some smart moves and you end up on top and win the game. Make bad choices and you end up dead, game over. The way I see it, there is no possible way that this plan will fail. You kids might as well sit back and enjoy the show because you won't get another chance like this again." With that, Kasumi flew back up to her rock formation, taking her seat and watching the action with the same amused expression.

"You better be right about this." Mamoru sighed in defeat, slowly following after her but couldn't help that feeling of unease in the pit of his stomach. _"I really hope that she's right.."_

* * *

Tsukimi could only lean on the side of the aircraft she was standing inside. The rest of the Z fighters were overjoyed to see that Goku was alive and safe. Especially Krillin, whom had hugged Goku right through the wall of the ship.

Looking down at her hand, she could still see her vision getting blurry at times and shook her head a couple of times. Already feeling the effects of her lack of sleep starting to affect her.

_"I can't let this get to me. They're nothing but nightmares, now isn't the time to be worrying about something as stupid as that! Once the Androids and Cell are dealt with, I'll do something about my sleep problem but until then, I can't let anyone find out about it. I already told Trunks, that may have been a mistake, but it's too late to worry about it now."_

She could already feel the lack of sleep beginning to effect her fighting as well. Her sword strokes against Cell were sloppy at best, and knew that she had given him too many openings to attack back or to get away.

All she could do was replay the memory of that rage-induced fight in her mind, just remembering every flawed move she made, which only made her all the more irritated with herself.

In the midst of her thoughts, she didn't even notice when Goku had used instant transmission on herself and Yuuki, or that he had brought Gohan along as well for the training and were now in a more baron environment, nothing but rock formations could be seen, but a smile quickly spread on her face when she saw Trunks.

Her heart had already skipped a beat. But the moment she saw the demi-saiyan, she knew that her next move should be. _"I have to train with Trunks! He can teach me how to wield a sword and this could be my chance to spend some alone time with him~!"_

Hearing Tsukimi giggling, Yuuki glanced at her for a moment before smiling softly. He was relieved to see her smiling. But still knew that she was having sleeping problems, and didn't know what to do about them either.

_"Why would she be having nightmares all the time? And why am I still seeing those visions from before?"_ Those questions continued to haunt his mind, and he didn't have anyone that he could turn to for answers. No one else had to suffer with these types of problems so no one could help him.

But he was far more worried about Tsukim's well-being than his own. Even now he could see that her complexion was slightly paler, she was more moody than normal, and was even having a hard time concentrating at times.

_"Oh well. This will be a good chance for me to finally get stronger. I have to protect her, especially if she can't fight enough for herself. Tsukimi was always the one to defend me, now I need to defend her."_ After that thought, Yuuki saw Goku teleport over to Vegeta, whom was standing on the edge of a far-off cliff.

"Trunks. There's something I want to ask you." Looking over his shoulder, Yuuki could see Tsukimi already walking towards Trunks with a light blush tinting her cheeks.

"Oh sure Tsukimi, what is it?" Trunks asked with a small smile, only to blink when he heard what Tsukimi had asked. "I want to train with you!"

"Train with me? But wouldn't you want to be trained by someone like Goku? Why do you want to train with me?" Trunks could see the light blush Tsukimi was wearing but could also see a determined look in her eyes.

"I know that you know how to use a sword. I know how to make swords from my own energy but I don't know how to wield it properly yet. Please Trunks, teach me how to sword fight!" Tsukimi looked back into Trunks' blue eyes, her cheeks only getting redder the harder she found it to look away from his gaze.

_"Oh God! I'm actually this close to him! I can see every inch of his face! He's looking right back at me! Oh god I might pass out!"_

"Well if you want to learn how to use a sword, I'd be happy to teach you. I know that you want to finish off the androids and Cell as much as I do." Trunks could see so much of himself in her, even now he could vaguely remember the way he used to beg Gohan to train him despite his mother's objections.

"It's not just that. When I'm done with this training. I want to be a super saiyan." Tsukimi said, looking a little more confident now and clenching her fist. "I have to get stronger, I can't just let what Cell do just slip by! He's killing innocent people and I won't stand for that! That wasn't how I was raised!"

Her father had always taught her to use her skills to defend others, to help those who couldn't help themselves. And she took that lesson to heart.

"I understand how you feel. Don't worry, with my help, I'll get you to super saiyan." Trunks placed his hand on Tsukimi's shoulder, making the bow-wearing girl smile and blush a small shade darker as well.

_"Oh god he's actually touching me! I could die happy!"_

Yuuki could only look on as Goku returned with Vegeta. By this point, he knew just how Tsukimi felt about Trunks. It would take a complete idiot to not see what was going on. The way she giggled, the way she smiled, the blush on her face.

_"...Tsukimi. You're in love with Trunks... Aren't you?"_

In another flash, Yuuki could see that he was already on top of the look-out with the others. "Hey Mr. Popo. We're here to use the time chamber." Goku said with a small smile as the genie nodded slightly.

"Of course. Come right this way. The hyperbolic time chamber will give you a whole year's worth of training in a single day, but not all of you can go in at once. Only up to three can go into the time chamber at once."

"Then Vegeta and Trunks can go first, but who would be the third?" Goku thought aloud before Tsukimi spoke up. "That would be me. I'm not coming out of there until I become a super saiyan." She said with a determined expression.

Vegeta chuckled condescendingly at her statement and crossed his arms. "Oh really? Do you think it will be that easy for a brat like you to become a super saiyan?"

"If it was easy enough for you to, pretty much anyone can at this point." Tsukimi smirked back at the saiyan prince, making him growl. "Why you little!"

"Are you sure about this Tsukimi? I mean it'll be a year before you come out of there in your time, can you handle it?" Yuuki asked. Tsukimi could plainly see the look of concern on his face and sighed.

"I may not be completely ready for this, but I'm not about to let anyone else get hurt because of my own weakness." She said with the same determined expression, before smiling softly at Yuuki.

"It's sweet of you to worry but I'll be fine. I promise." She said before starting to walk into the time chamber when Mr. Popo had opened the door.

"Good luck Tsukimi!" Yuuki managed to call out, even though in the bottom of his heart, he was concerned about her. He didn't know if she could handle training in the time chamber on her own, would her nightmares get worse? Would they get better?

_"Tsukimi... Please come back in one piece."_ Was all he thought as he saw the door to the time chamber close in front of him.

* * *

Both Android 17 and 13 were stuck in a stalemate, the two exchanging a flurry of rapid punches with neither side giving an inch, only stopping when they had gotten caught in a power struggle and both stepped back to gain momentum.

Kasumi continued to sit on her rock formation, just watching over all three battles. So far it seemed that all three battles were stalemates. Neither side showed any signs of slowing down or stopping.

"Man, I didn't think they'd be going at it for this long." Satoshi was actually impressed for how long the battle seemed to be going on for, all six androids were still fighting like they had just started.

Mamoru had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot lightly, still feeling uneasy about the situation. "I know you can feel Cell getting closer, Kasumi. Are you one hundred percent sure about this plan of yours?"

"Man, you bitch a lot. For the hundredth time; Yes! This plan is fool-proof! Please! Have some faith in the demon queen why don't you-" The moment Kasumi had finished her sentence, she was swiftly whipped with the end of Cell's tail as he appeared behind her, sending her straight into another rock formation.

"Kasumi!" Mamoru quickly rushed over to the tanned girl as both Satoshi and Hotaru quickly flew upwards to avoid being attacked by the android.

"Alright, now to see if Kasumi really is all talk or not." Hotaru said simply as Kasumi began picking herself up from the rubble, wiping a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Kasumi, are you alright?" Mamoru asked, only to see her chuckle slightly. "I'm going to love seeing him get his big, freaky ass kicked."

Hehe, I should thank you, girl. You just made my quest for perfection that much easier." With that, the androids immediately stopped fighting when they saw the green bio-android walking towards them.

"Alright now's our chance to watch the chaos." Kasumi said as she got up and brushed herself off before rubbing her cheek. "Damn it! What the hell is with everyone and attacking my face?! Is it a crime to be beautiful now?!"

"But shouldn't we help the androids deal with Cell or stop him from achieving his perfect form?" Satoshi asked as Kasumi just smirked and looked back at the scene. "I wouldn't worry about it. If it were just Android 17 and his group then maybe I would but with Android 13 here, the scales have tipped in our favor. Just watch and learn." She gestured towards the battle scene, with Android 13 glaring slightly at Cell.

"You better have a damned good reason for stoppin' our fight." He only watched as Cell's eyes trailed to him, a small smirk appearing on his face. "Ahh, Android 13. I wasn't expecting to see you activated just yet. No matter, all you are is more power to fuel my perfect form. And now that I have Android 17 and 18 in my sights, perfection is within my grasp!" Cell smirked and quickly rushed towards Android 17, only to be stopped when Android 13 appeared in front of the shorter android, roughly punching Cell in the stomach and round-house kicking him back a few feet.

"Sorry, but this is my dance, partner. Better find your own. 14! 15! Take out the trash over here!" He called out as the two androids quickly rushed onto the scene, the two of them quickly attacking Cell with a flurry of punches and kicks.

At first glance, it seemed that the two androids had an advantage over Cell, and landed many successful hits, causing Cell to jump back and try to stab into the two with his tail, but was easily dodged and met with a kick to the stomach by Android 14 followed by a pair of eye beams from android 15.

"I don't need you to defend me, I could have handled him on my own." Android 17 spoke up with a small glare in his eyes, looking at Android 13.

"Don't take it to heart, Kid. The one that's gonna end you is gonna be me, no one else." Android 13 replied with a small glare as he watched the fight going on.

From a normal standpoint, it would appear that the two androids had a complete advantage over Cell, but Android 13 couldn't help but feel uneasy about the situation.

The way Cell was taking punches, his counter attacks, all of it seemed... Off. To him.

_"Something ain't right here. It feels like he isn't even taking this seriously. That he's just toying with them. Unless..."_ The blonde Android's eyes widened at the sudden realization and quickly began running towards the fight.

"14! 15! Fall back now!" He yelled but at that moment, Cell had appeared behind the two when their backs were turned. With a smirk, he grabbed Android 15 by his neck and easily snapped it in his fingers as the small man lay limp in his grasp.

Android 14 had just been impaled through his chest by Cell's tail, leaving nothing but a large hole, stained with blood. After a moment, his eyes went completely blank and he fell over on the ground as well.

The moment the two fell over, Android 13's eyes widened even further. He didn't know that Cell was already this powerful or that 14 and 15 could be defeated so easily by him either!

"...14...15..." His eyes trailed from each of their dead bodies. And in an instant, all of the horrid images Gero had forced him to see were all flashing in his psyche.

Every person brutally killed in war, famine taking the lives of many innocent people, and for a small moment, he could see a small peaceful farm out in the country side, and a woman that was happily standing by his side, but he just couldn't remember her face.

"Was this a part of your plan Kasumi?!" Mamoru exclaimed, in a state of shock along with the other kids. Even Kasumi's eyes were slightly wide. She didn't expect Cell to be this powerful just yet either.

"Relax! There's still four more androids, my plan hasn't failed just yet!" Even though she spoke confidently, inside, she had a feeling that she had just made a fatal mistake.

The other androids could only watch in horror as Cell easily absorbed both androids he had just killed, reveling in the power that they had bestowed upon him. "Ahh~ Now for the main course." His sights set on both Androids 17 and 18 and at that moment, Satoshi began running towards the scene.

"RUN AWAY! GET AWAY FROM HERE RIGHT NOW! YOU CAN'T LET HIM ABSORB YOU!"

"Hmph, I'm not scare of some overgrown bug!" Android 17 saw Cell heading towards him and quickly jumped up, punching Cell in the face but only found himself getting hit with the end of Cell's tail and knocked to the ground.

"Go to hell!" He growled, kicking Cell straight in the face as he rushed towards him, but was blind-sighted when Cell had appeared behind him, roughly kicking 17 in the center of his back and whipped his tail down harshly on the android's stomach, forcing him to the ground.

_"That son of a bitch... I'm sorry 14, 15. This was my mistake but I'm not about to let this bastard get away with what he did to you!"_ Getting up from the ground, Android 13 growled sharply as he rushed towards Cell, roughly kicking him in the stomach and grabbing him by his tail, he then flew up and swung him around a couple of times before slamming him down as hard as he could into the ground.

"GOOD FOR NOTHIN' BASTARD!" He yelled, firing a series of powerful ki blasts straight into the hole, only stopping and waiting to see when the dust would clear to see if he really had killed him or not.

His blue eyes narrowed slightly, he could feel that Cell was on the move from underground but couldn't exactly pinpoint where he was going to surface.

When he looked at android 17, lying on the ground and trying to pick himself up, he saw that Cell was going to surface right from under him and quickly rushed over, pushing Android 17 out of the way to find himself being wrapped in Cell's tail from under the ground.

"It looks like you're eager to join your friends, 13. You'll see them soon enough." Cell smirked, the end of his tail opening as Android 13 tried to free himself from Cell's grip but as much as he would struggle, he only found Cell's grip on his body getting tighter.

"Damn it! I'm not goin' down like this!" The blonde android yelled, only to blink when he saw Cell be punched harshly in the face, the grip his tail had on his body loosening enough for android 13 to free himself.

"Hurry! Take the others and get away from here now!" Satoshi yelle,d firing energy blasts one after another at Cell, just in an attempt to hold him back, but was harshly whipped by Cell's tail into a rock formation.

_"Damn it! With 14 and 15 absorbed into him, he's too powerful for me to beat!"_ As much as he didn't want to admit it, 13 knew that he couldn't beat him as he was, and with Gero's fail-safe plan absorbed into Cell as well, he couldn't even change into his second form to be on a more even playing field with him.

But there was one thing that confused him; why was Satoshi helping him like this? He hardly knew him and yet he was still trying to save his life. Not even caring what would happen to his own.

"Satoshi..." Hotaru's eyes were wide as well, all she could find herself doing was watching in horror as Satoshi took hit after hit from Cell, she looked to the side to see Mamoru rush in, trying to help but was swiftly beaten into a rock formation.

"You guys have to get out of here! Go now!" Satoshi yelled, using one of his energy barriers to keep Cell from advancing any further, the green bio-android was trying to break through the shield, and small cracks could be seen forming in it, growing larger with every hit.

"I'm not going! I can't leave you alone with this thing!" Hotaru yelled back, flying over, only to stop when she heard Satoshi yell at her. "I SAID GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"

Hotaru's eyes widened as wide as saucers when she saw Cell break through Satoshi's barrier, his tail stabbing right through Satoshi's stomach, and seeing Satoshi cough up blood onto the ground.

"Sa...SATOSHI!"

* * *

Akihiko, Kimiko, and Gerome were still rushing towards the scene when Akihiko suddenly could feel that something was wrong.

_"Something isn't right..."_ He could feel the unease in the pit of his stomach, and that just fueled him to fly even faster towards the scene. Just to see what had gone on.

"Akihiko, are you alright?" Kimiko could notice hos distressed he seemed to be, even is his face wouldn't show it, she could still see that he was worried.

"We have to hurry. Come on!" With that, Akihiko began picking up his pace with Kimiko and Gerome following closely behind, Kimiko only looking with a concerned expression after Akihiko.

* * *

Everything seemed to stop at that moment, Hotaru's eyes were wide, her mouth ajar, and tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes when she saw Satoshi's body fall onto the ground.

_"No... This can't be happening! This can't be happening!"_ Her world had completely shattered in that moment. Satoshi was her light, the only one who ever tried to reach a hand out to help her, to pull her out of the darkness that used to be her life.

If he were gone... Then she would fall back into that darkness once again.

"SATOSHI!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, Mamoru and Kasumi could only watch with wide eyes, Mamoru trying to pick himself up from the rubble of the rock formation he was under.

"W-what the hell did I just do?" Kasumi's eyes were wide as well, looking down at her hands, she had caused all of this, this wasn't how her plan was supposed to go!

"S-Satoshi..." Hotaru could only look down at his body, all of the kindness that he had shown her, she would never feel anymore. She would never be able to fully tell him how much she cared about him, and she would never get to apologize for everything she had done to him.

_"You'll like living with me Hotaru!"_

"He can't be..." All of the kindness that he had ever showed her was all flashing through her mind at once.

_"Because I know that you're not a bad person."_

"He was the only one who cared.. The only one who ever cared about me..."

_"I know how it feels to be alone."_

At that moment, Hotaru could feel something inside of her snap, and began flying towards Cell as fast as she could, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" She screamed, punching Cell as hard as she could, kicking him in the stomach, firing her own eye lasers at him, grabbing onto his tail and trying to absorb as much energy as she could from his body with the nodes on her palms.

While Hotaru was fighting off Cell as hard as she could, Kasumi finally snapped out of her shock and quickly flew over to Mamoru and helped him out of the rubble.

"Before you say anything, I already know that I screwed up. I can admit that but we have to get out of here, we can't fight off Cell on our own like this! We have to get away from here and convince the androids to get out of here too, if he reaches his perfect form, we're royally screwed."

"I'LL KILL YOU- GUAH!" Hotaru was suddenly punched harshly in the stomach before being punched to the ground by Cell, as she tried to pick herself up, she found herself coughing up blood onto the ground but wasn't about to completely give up.

_" I can't lose here! I have to stop him! He has to pay for what he did to Satoshi!"_

"You have quite a bit of energy, little girl. You'll make a nice power supply." Cell smirked, only to be punched in the face by Android 16 who had appeared behind him.

"Hurry and leave. Take 17 and 18 with you. Get as far away from here as possible." Hotaru looked up at the large man as she managed to pick herself up while holding her stomach.

"Wait 16 you can't possible be serious! You can't fight him! It's suicide!" Android 17 had managed to get up as well but was still badly beaten after his fight with Cell.

"According to my calculations; Cell and I are almost equal in power." With that, Hotaru watched as 16 rushed towards Cell with a barrage of punches and kicks, and during the power struggle, Cell was suddenly hit with a powerful energy blast from behind.

"Y'all don't mind if I cut in?" Android 13 began walking towards the scene, with android 16 smirking slightly. "Not at all."

"I'm gonna enjoy this. There's no way I can stand back and watch a bunch of kid's do the fightin' especially when I have a score to settle with this freak."

* * *

**And here's chapter 22! I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, and there will be more action in the next chapter! ^^ (I really need to work on big fight scenes more...)****  
But feel free to let me know what you think and thanks for reading! ^^  
**


	24. Chapter 23

The moment they had arrived, Akihiko's eyes widened slightly upon witnessing the power struggle between Android 16, 13, and Cell.

He could see Android 17 struggling to get up from the ground and Android 18 rushing over to help him, the two were only watching as Androids 16 and 13 punched Cell harshly in the stomach before Android 13 grabbed Cell by his tail and threw him against the ground, followed by a series of energy blasts from Android 16.

Gerome couldn't help himself from looking at the android fight with slight surprise. _"Android 16 and 13 are actually working together? And since android 14 and 15 are nowhere to be seen, I assume Cell has already absorbed them as well."_

He was mostly surprised since androids never had much of a history of working together, but this was something he had never had expected to see in his lifetime.

But he could see that even with the both of them trying to hold Cell back, that it was now more important to make sure that Androids 17 and 18 were taken to a safe location away from the scene.

"Yo! You guys!" The three looked to the left when they saw Kasumi quickly flying over with Mamoru being supported on her shoulder. He had various bumps and bruises all over his body and seemed to be tired out.

"Mamoru! Kasumi! What's going on here?" Kimiko asked as Kasumi looked away slightly. "Well... In short this is the result of one of my plans.."

"Going completely wrong! Your plan failed Kasumi! Cell is stronger now, 14 and 15 are gone! Android 17 is beaten to a pulp and now we can't even hold a candle to him! I don't even need to say what happened to Satoshi!" Mamoru blurted out, only to be hit in the head by Kasumi.

"There is such a thing a delicacy you moron!" She growled, only to see Akihiko quickly turn to the two with a slightly worried expression on his face. "What happened to Satoshi?"

Kasumi bit her lip slightly and sighed as she let go of Mamoru. "Well... You're probably gonna hate me for this but... Ah! Damn it! I forgot Hotaru! Come on Kimiko! We gotta go now!" With that, Kasumi quickly grabbed Kimiko by her arm and began speeding away back towards the scene.

"Kasumi!" Akihiko quickly began going after the two, he could feel the unease in his stomach growing larger. Something happened that she was keeping from him and he knew that something had to have happened to Satoshi.

"Kimiko. You still got a Senzu bean on you?" Kasumi asked as Kimiko just nodded a bit "Yes, I still have a couple more but Kasumi.. What happened to Satoshi?"

"You'll see for yourself in a minute. Man I royally screwed up this time." Kasumi sighed, rubbing her head. Kimiko could tell that she was feeling guilty, something bad had t have happened to cause the concerned expression on her face. 

* * *

Hotaru coughed a couple of times as she managed to get herself onto her feet. Even though as an android, she didn't feel any sense of pain from her injuries, she knew that she had taken on a lot of damage just from that single punch.

"Sa...Satoshi..." What was hurting the most was her chest. Her eyes were glued to Satoshi's body, which was still lying on the ground, a large pool of blood had formed under it.

_"I have to hurry! Maybe if I'm quick enough, they can save him.."_

Just as she had thought that, Hotaru felt the ground shaking below them, due to the fight between the three androids in the distance, the island began to shake, and as it did, she saw Satoshi's body limply fall into the water.

"Satoshi!" She yelled, despite the fact that her body wouldn't listen to her, she managed to rush towards the water's edge as fast as she could and jumped in, seeing Satoshi falling towards the bottom of the sea.

_"You can't die Satoshi! You can't leave me alone again!"_ She tried to swim as fast as she could to catch up to Satoshi's falling body, tears already falling from her eyes and mixing with the water surrounding her.

"You're the only one who cares about me! The only one who ever tried to help me! I can't live without you!"

Reaching out for Satoshi's hand, Hotaru managed to grab it within her own, bringing his body close to her own and wrapping her arms around him.

_"Please! I never even got to tell you how much I loved you!"_ With that thought, Hotaru leaned in, kissing Satoshi for a brief moment before her eyes widened slightly and broke the kiss.

_"His lips are still warm... He's still alive!"_

The moment she realized that there was a chance Satoshi could still be alive, Hotaru tried to swim back to the surface but blinked when she saw that her arm was beginning to fail her and began to feel weak.

_"Damn it! I used up all my energy against Cell! I'm running out of power! And I can't take it from Satoshi now that he's in danger of dying!"_

But she had no way out, the longer they stayed underwater, the more Satoshi would slip away, but with her own energy reserves nearly empty, Hotaru could only manage to hold on to Satoshi and look up at the water's surface.

_"I hope the others realize we aren't there..."_

* * *

"Damn it! This is bad! Cell is just getting stronger down there!" Yuuki could feel Cell's power level rising and was still sitting on the Lookout with Goku and Gohan.

"I know how you feel, Yuuki. But you can't go down there. You can't take on Cell on your own yet, and we have to wait for when Vegeta, Trunks, and Tsukimi come out of the time chamber. You have to be patient." But Yuuki could tell that even though Goku wanted them to wait, that he was concerned about the others as well.

Yuuki could only clench his fists, glaring down from the edge of the lookout. Despite not being able to see anything, he could feel every power level rise and drop on the battle field, except for the androids.

But the feeling of not knowing if they were safe, if they were fighting for their lives and he was doing nothing to help them was beginning to drive him up the wall.

He turned his attention towards the doors of the time chamber, it hadn't been too long since Tsukimi, Trunks, and Vegeta had entered. And he was wondering how long it would be until they would come out.

Even more, he was concerned about the fact that Tsukimi was probably still experiencing those night horrors of hers. He could see even before she left that she was physically and mentally exhausted. He just hoped that she was safe in the time chamber...

He knew that Tsukimi was a strong person but even the strongest of people had their limits...

_"Please Tsukimi, I hope you come out of there soon."_

* * *

Standing in a center of a seemingly endless void, Tsukimi had her eyes closed, holding both of her hands out as she formed a pair of energy swords in her hands.

"Are you ready Tsukimi?!" Trunks called from far off in the distance, and the moment his voice reached her eardrums, her eyes shot open, clenching her swords tightly in her hands.

"I'm ready!" She called back, only to see Trunks begin to fire a series of energy blasts at her in rapid succession, each blast heading straight at her at a blindingly fast speed.

Gripping the energy blades in her hands, Tsukimi began to slice each of the blasts in half, her moves swift and yet at the same time, graceful.

For a moment, her vision blurred slightly, causing her eyes to narrow as she missed one of the blasts heading towards her, causing Tsukimi to to narrowly stab into the blast with the sword in her right hand, just narrowly stopping it from hitting her.

Once the first wave was gone, she saw that Trunks was no longer in front of her, but had flown upwards and began firing another wave down at her.

"Keep your mind clear! Don't let your eyes fool you! Use your ability to sense energy be your guide!" The demi-saiyan called out to her.

With a small nod, Tsukimi closed her eyes and swiftly jumped out of the way of one of the blasts and stabbed into another, beginning another swift cyclone of sword strokes that sliced through every one of the blasts that was raining down on her.

Even though the training itself wasn't too hard of a challenge; the time chamber itself was an entirely different matter. It was unlike anything that she had ever experienced before. The gravity was so strong that she could barely move at first, the air so thick that it was hard for her to even breath, and the temperatures seemed to fluctuate wildly, one minute freezing cold, the next, blazing hot.

Even though she wouldn't openly admit it, sh was afraid after the first day of being in the time chamber with the two. She was honestly not sure if she could handle this sort of training, that it may be too much for her.

Keeping her eyes closed, Tsukimi sliced through another pair of blasts that were flying at her before beginning to float, using the air around her to get more momentum for her strikes.

The only thing that truly kept her going during this training were the words her father had told her before he began training her at the tender young age of six.

_"Remember Tsukimi; no matter how tough the training is, or how strong the opponent is, You can overcome them. You can become stronger than you can possibly imagine. Even stronger than me. And I know that you will make me proud."_

Tsukimi was panting once she felt the barrage end. Slowly she opened her eyes, her vision now back to normal and smiled when she saw Trunks walking over. "How did I do?"

"You're getting a lot better. It looks like it didn't take long for you to pick up sword fighting at all." Trunks smiled lightly down at Tsukimi as she blushed slightly.

"Well maybe you're just a good teacher. But now that I have sword fighting down, it's time for me to get down to real training. Becoming a super saiyan." She said with a determined spark in her eyes.

This was the main reason she wanted to join Trunks in his training, but the environment was beginning to take its toll on her as well. And with her already fatigued enough as it was before she entered the time chamber, there were times when she felt like her body was going to shut down.

But the nightmares that continued to haunt her gave her the push to keep going. No amount of fatigue could ever compare to the pain she would feel for the rest of her life if she had let one of her friends die on her watch against Cell.

"Right. Are you sure you don't want to take a break first?" Trunks asked, he could plainly see just how tired Tsukimi looked but she was stubborn, and not even he could convince her to take a rest now and again.

"No, I'm alright, the sooner I get to super saiyan, the better." Tsukimi said as she tightened the bow in her hair and cracked her knuckles.

_"There's no way I'm coming out of here until I'm a super saiyan! I'm not going to have my friends' blood on my hands!"_

* * *

Akihiko was still chasing after Kasumi and Kimiko. He knew that there was something Kasumi wasn't telling him. That nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach was just telling him that something was wrong.

Taking a small look around the area, his eyes finally landed on Kasumi, who was leaning over the edge of the island and looking into the water with Kimiko.

"Kasumi. I want to know what you neglected to tell me earlier and I am not going to drop the subject until you do." When Akihiko landed, he took a couple of steps towards Kasumi. Who bit her lip slightly, only keeping her eyes pointed towards the water where she was sure Hotaru was.

"Look… My plan had a few bugs in it. And… well…" Kasumi couldn't find the strength to tell him that she may have just gotten his cousin killed, there was no possible way that he wouldn't hate her after finding that out!

"I see her!" Just before Kasumi could finish, she saw Kimiko hurriedly jump into the water and began swimming as fast as she could.

"Kasumi. I want an answer." Breathing out a sigh, Kasumi looked back at her clearly agitated friend and knew that she had to own up to what she had done.

"Alright, you want the truth? I'll give you the truth."

* * *

_"This is it… This is how I'm going to die…"_ All Hotaru could do was look up at the faint ray of light that was shining down from the sun.

She was sitting at the bottom of the sea, still managing to hold on to Satoshi's body, which was growing colder and pouring more blood by the second.

She was surrounded by nothing but water, all she could truly take in was the beautiful hues of blue and sea green that surrounded her vision.

Taking a look down at Satoshi, the brunette could see that his body was getting paler as time went on, his blood still pouring out of him, mixing with the water that surrounded them before fading away.

_"If I have to die… At least we won't be alone anymore."_ She didn't have the strength to swim out of the water. The fight she had with Cell had completely drained her power cells, and was struggling just to keep her eyes open at this point.

All Hotaru could manage to do was hold on to Satoshi, keeping both of her arms around his body and lightly resting her head atop of his.

_"I love you Satoshi. And I'm sorry.."_

Just as she was about to close her eyes, Hotaru could hear something coming towards them, and could see some of the water beginning to move more erratically from above her.

Looking up, her ice blue eyes widened when she saw Kimiko swimming towards her and reaching her hand out to her.

_"Why? Why is she helping me?"_

Hotaru first tried to hold Satoshi's body out to Kimiko, figuring that was the reason she had swam all this way.

But the blue-clad girl shook her head slightly, and reached down, trying to grab Hotaru's hand.

_"Why is she doing this? Doesn't she know if she holds my hand, I'll just steal her energy?"_

Hotaru managed to hold her palm out to Kimiko, gesturing to the red energy sapping node embedded within it.

But to her surprise, Kimiko smiled slightly and grabbed Hotaru's hand within her own, their fingers interlacing as the saiyan girl began trying to swim back to the surface, with Hotaru still having a grip on Satoshi's body.

_"Why is she risking her life for me?"_ Hotaru couldn't understand it, she could see just how much Kimiko was struggling to tow the two of them along with her back to the surface.

_"She's going to run out of air any second. Doesn't she know that she could die?"_

No matter how many times she tried to wrap her mind around it, she just couldn't bring herself to understand why Kimiko was trying to help her like this.

_"I treated her like dirt. I said horrible things to her. But she's still helping me…"_

The android could feel the energy that she was taking from Kimiko beginning to rejuvenate her, and with enough energy back in her body, she began swimming along with her, the two girls carrying Satoshi's body along with them.

Kimiko looked to Hotaru with slight surprise but smiled softly as well as she continued to swim. 

* * *

"Satoshi… may be dead?" Akihito's eyes were wide, his body trembling slightly at the truth Kasumi had just told him.

"'Look, I already know that you probably hate me for this. I didn't mean for my plan to go like this, I didn't mean for anyone to die here! The only reason I came up with this plan in the first place is because I wanted to prevent any of us from dying!" No matter how much Kasumi tried to apologize, none of them seemed to be good enough to atone for what she had caused.

She could only squeeze her eyes shut and clench her fists at her sides. "I'll understand if after this, you'd never want to see me again. And I wouldn't blame you fi you wanted to smack me too. Go ahead. I'm giving you permission, go ahead and hit me if you want."

Kasumi could only keep her eyes closed, just waiting for the strike. Bu to her surprise, all she could feel was Akihiko placing his hand on her shoulder before breathing out a small sigh.

"I can already tell you are distressed enough by what has happened, Kasumi. And me, getting overemotional will not help things now. Besides… I do not think that Satoshi has died. At least not yet anyway." When Kasumi opened her eyes, she could see the worry in Akihito's eyes, but she also saw a small flicker of something she had never seen before.

She felt as though even though they didn't say anything, that there was no need to. He understood her feelings about death and was not going to hold something like this against her.

"Akihiko…" Kasumi started before groaning in frustration. "Oh come the hell on! Even if I accidentally kill your cousin you don't show any real emotion!"

"And you wanted me to fly off the handle and strike you?" Akihito asked with a rather unamused expression on his face.

"I wanted at least some tears! A yell! Something! I mean you're not a damned robot are you?" Kasumi exclaimed before seeing Kimiko and Hotaru surface from the water, Kimiko coughing a few times as she began to catch her breath.

And Hotaru was only focused on dragging Satoshi's body along with her and up to the surface once more. "He… He's alive.. But we need to hurry!" Kimiko spoke up in the midst of her coughing before reaching into her dress and pulling out the nearly-empty bag of senzu beans that she often kept with her..

Hotaru could only watch as Kimiko placed the bean into Satoshi's mouth and helped him swallow it. She still couldn't understand it, why she was risking herself, had actually helped someone who was so cold towards her, she just couldn't understand at all.

"There, he should be alright now. Hopefully I didn't get to him too late. But we need to move him somewhere safe where he can rest."

"Thank you Kimiko. Just as long as I know he is alive, that is enough to bring me a great deal of comfort." Akihito couldn't help himself from breathing out a sigh of relief. He had that feeling in the pit of his stomach that his cousin couldn't have been dead. And thankfully, that feeling was right.

"Oh it was no problem at all, really." Kimiko smiled softly, breathing a small sigh of relief herself. She was just grateful that she was able to make some sort of difference and be of help to her friends.

"Why?" Her eyes turned to Hotaru, who was clenching her teeth and her fist into the ground under her fingertips.

"Why did you help me? You even knew that I would just take your energy away from you! Just look at you, you look like you're ready to pass out right now and yet you still chose to help me! Even after everything I said to you, I just don't get it at all!" Hotaru was growling under her teeth, clenching her fists into the ground in the ground under her.

Kimiko looked at her for a second before smiling softly. "Because you're my friend. And you needed my help. Besides, I'm sure that you would have done the same thing for me."

Hotaru only blinked once in slight surprise. She just couldn't wrap her mind around it. After the way she treated Kimiko, everything she said, how cold she was to her, Kimiko still considered her to be a friend…

_"This girl has to be a dumb ass."_

But she knew that she wasn't wrong. If their roles were reversed, she would have helped Kimiko. Although it would have just been for Satoshi's sake since she is well aware of his feelings for her…

"I guess…" Hotaru was stopped when she suddenly felt a power level skyrocketing from another part of the island.

"This is bad… It feels like Cell's power level is going through the roof!" Kasumi hissed through gritted teeth, only to look out at the other side of the island, and her eyes widening when she saw the large surge of light that was shining in front of her.

Akihiko could only grit his teeth slightly, he could plainly feel the power level in front of him skyrocketing to even higher levels. He had to come up with some sort of a strategy!

_"Okay, I have to think quickly. Kimiko is already showing signs of being worn out from helping Hotaru and Satoshi. And the both of them are completely out of the question in terms of a fight. It seems that this will be my only option." _ Akihiko could only look at Kimiko before turning to the energy light in front of them on the other side of the island.

"Kimiko. I want you to take Hotaru and Satoshi and get as far away from here as you possibly can. It is imperative that we buy the androids time to escape. Kasumi, Gerome, Mamoru and I will try to hold Cell off for as long as we can to buy you and the remaining androids enough time to escape."

"B-But I can't just leave the rest of you alone to fight!" Kimiko exclaimed before Akihiko looked back at her, looking straight into her eyes. "Kimiko, now is the time for you to fulfill your promise. You have to prioritize. Neither Hotaru nor Satoshi are in any sort of condition to fight. And we have to stop Cel from achieving his perfect form at all costs." Akihiko spoke before powering up, looking to Kasumi. "We're going."

"Uh.. right.." Kasumi only nodded a bit before starting to float slightly.

"Wait!" Kimiko rushed over, grabbing Akihiko's hand tightly within her own. "Please be careful… I don't want to see anyone else die." All Kimiko could do was look back up at the boy in front of her, with a worried expression on her face.

Akihiko looked back into Kimiko's eyes, his own narrowing slightly.

_"Just like that day… Those eyes so full of damage." _

We will be alright, Kimiko. We aren't fighting to win, just to buy time. Now hurry and get going." Akihiko finished, only making the short-haired girl nod before going over to Hotaru as she started picking up Satoshi's body.

"Can you still fly Hotaru?" The brunette replied by getting up to her feet and floating into the air while helping Kimiko carry Satoshi by placing one of his arms around her shoulders. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get going before it's too late." Was all she said as she started flying away, with Kimiko only looking back and biting her lip as she saw Akihiko and Kasumi flying away as well.

_"Please Akihiko, come back safe. All of you."_

* * *

"Damn it! There has to be something we can do!" Mamoru hissed under his breath, all he could do was watch helplessly with the remaining three androids as Cell was undergoing his horrific transformation.

Gerome was standing next to Mamoru, but his eyes were locked on the transformation that was unfolding in front of him. He couldn't believe that Cell could transform like this.

_"If he has a perfect form, another transformation… Does that mean I have one as well?"_

Just witnessing that transformation brought up a slew of new questions in Gerome's mind and no answers whatsoever. He had no idea what he was, what his reason for being born was, or even why he was created by Dr. Gero in the first place if he was simply deemed as a failure.

But seeing Cell's transformation made him think; was his existence just for the sake of perfection? Did he have some sort of power to absorb other androids to achieve his perfect form? Did he even have a perfect form.

"..Hey Gerome! you listening?!" The bio-android was snapped out of his thoughts when he remembered how dire the situation was now. Cell's power level was skyrocketing, there was no way that he- or any of the other warriors could stand up to him now.

"Yo! Guys!" Kasumi called, and just as the two boys flew up to greet her. the glowing had begun to die down, and there he stood. Cell was now in a more human-esque form, his tail clearly longer, his eyes no longer slitted and his lips formed into a sinister sneer the moment he took a glance around.

Android 18 was in a state of shock after the creature had just absorbed her own brother, and Android 13 was struggling to keep himself up, his left arm was bleeding heavily as well as a wound on the left side of his head that left a trail of blood down his face. "Damn it all!"

"We need to buy the androids time to escape. We cannot allow him to absorb Android 18 at any cost!" Akihiko was glaring down at the creature, all he could see was the blood- his cousin's blood that continued to stain the ground.

"Are you nuts?! There's no way we can stop this guy! Do you not feel his power level right now?!" Mamoru exclaimed, only to be hit upside the head by Kasumi. "Quit your bitching and let's get going! If we attack him all at once, we can at least stop him from moving."

"She is right, that is our best option. We have to get into a four-pointed formation and attack in unison with everything we have. At the very least, we can stop him from advancing any further" Akihiko looked to the others, who all nodded slightly.

"We might die here but we knew that when we first came here!" Mamoru growled, the group flew into a square-shaped position, each one on one corner facing Cell who simply glanced back up at them.  
"Everyone ready?" Akihiko asked, already charging a large energy ball in his hands along with the others.

"Ready." Gerome nodded, his eyes firmly locked on Cell in front of him.

"Hey! Kiss this you ugly son of a bitch!" Kasumi yelled as the four of them all launched a unison attack that seemed to cause a large crater to form in the ground. "Keep going! Don't let up!" Akihiko yelled, firing one round after another in unison, trying to keep Cell in the hole as long as they could.

"Hey! You guys get out of here now!" Kasumi yelled, looking to the other androids. Android 18 looked at 16 with his extensive injuries and nodded slightly before flying away with him while Android 13 could only grit his teeth.

"Never thought I'd see the day I'd have my ass saved by a bunch'a kids." He chuckled lightly, but he knew that right now, he was in no condition to fight and began flying away the best that he could.

When Akihiko saw that, he tried to keep his focus on firing more unison blasts at Cell to keep him from escaping from the crater. _"We have to keep this up, even if it's just for a while longer. I don't care if it costs me my life, I can't let them die!"_ All he could see in his mind was the expression Kimiko had on her face, those eyes that he could see- were already full of emotional damage.

Just like on the day that they had met, and it was a feeling he could never understand. The longing to protect someone, to even be willing to lay down your life for them, he had never felt anything of the sort- that is, until he met Kimiko.

And he was going to make sure that nothing would happen to her while they were here, he was not going to let her die. He was never going to have her experience the icy touch of death's hand wrapped around her neck.

Never. 

* * *

**Okay really sorry for the long wait here! I promise production will be longer this go-around, I just had computer problems but they're fine now and I'm getting back into my writing game! ^^**  
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**So thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review if you liked it and please take the poll on my profile! ^^**


	25. Chapter 24

Akihiko, Kasumi, Gerome, and Mamoru continued their unified onslaught on Cell. Firing attack after attack, trying to keep him from advancing even further. The crater getting bigger and the island even starting to crack more from each blast.

"Dude.. We can't keep this up…" Mamoru was already panting before firing another blast. "I'm running on fumes here!"

"Suck it up you big hairy whiner! We're all tired too but we have to keep going!" Kasumi panted just before firing another blast.

"She is right… This may take all of our energy… But we must keep him occupied as long as we can…" Akihiko was panting softly as well. He wasn't used to using this much energy- none of them were.

The only one who seemed to be able to keep going on was Gerome, who showed no signs of being tired at all and only focused on his attacks that were firing straight at Cell.

"We have to keep going…" Akihiko glared down at the crater as another blast was fired. He knew that they had to buy as much time as they could so the androids as well as Kimiko and the rest of their friends could escape.

But even he could feel how low on energy he was getting. And he was sure that Mamoru and Kasumi weren't going to last much longer.

All three saying were panting heavily, trying to conjure any little bit of energy they had left. But even Gerome could see that they barely had any strength left.

He took a small look at the others, seeing how exhausted they all were and only looked down to see Cell slowly advancing forward, flying towards the group.

_"We can't let him win! We have to keep going!"_ Was the only thought that went through Gerome's mind as all four fired another final powerful energy blast directly at Cell, sending him spiraling through the island.

_"Forgive me everyone… I don't have any energy left to give…"_ Was all Akihiko could think through his pants before allowing himself to fall towards the ground. Only to be caught when Gerome flew towards him, grabbing Akihiko by the arm before he could hit the ground.

When Gerome saw that Kasumi and Mamoru had fallen as well, he knew that he had to think fast. Surely that type of an attack wouldn't have been enough to finish Cell off or even graze him.

"We have to retreat for now.. There's no other option." Gerome turned around once he had set the three exhausted saying down and saw Cell already floating above the crater they had created.

"Curses! Android 18 is already out of my sight! And all because of those meddling little insects!" Gerome's eyes narrowed when he saw Cell look back at him. He could tell that running away with three exhausted saiyans wasn't going to be an option.

"It's all because of you. Pathetic little failure. This should teach you all not to try to stop the inevitable from happening." Gerome could only look up as Cell glared down at him, holding out his hand and charging an energy blast within it.

Gerome's eyes widened at the sight and quickly stood in front of the three. _"I can't fight him! Not like this, but at least I can protect them!"_

The moment that thought went through his mind, Gerome held his arms out as the blast struck him, sending him and the other three saiyans flying back.

As Gerome felt himself falling back onto the ground, he quickly looked to the others, breathing out a small sigh of relief that they didn't seem to be injured before looking down at himself.

All he could see was blood pouring out of him, the searing pain that could only get worse with each breath he took. He could feel that the attack had struck his abdomen, and the bleeding showed no signs of stopping.

_"This pain… It's different from before…"_ As Gerome fell back onto the ground, the memories of each time he was used as a training dummy went through his mind. He was used purely for the purpose of strengthening others, and because of that, used to believe that was what his purpose was in life.

But this was different… The pain he felt actually made him feel happy inside. Because for the first time, he had chosen to feel this pain. The pain from protecting those he had grown to care for, came with an almost sweet feeling along with it.

"As long… as they're alright…" Was all Gerome could manage to speak, he could see the others panting slightly, but showing that they were still alive at least.

As Gerome's red eyes began to close, all he could feel was a strange warmth that came from within him. A strange sort of happiness accompanied with the pain he was feeling from his wound.

_"What is this feeling?… Why does it make me feel happy? It is pain and yet…"_

* * *

"N-No! It can't be!" Yuuki's eyes widened the moment he felt the power levels of his friends drop, and could feel that Gerome's was the lowest out of them all.

_"This can't be happening! None of this was supposed to happen!" _Before he could say anything more, he blinked when he saw Goku vanish from the lookout for a few moments. Only to return with Gerome, Kasumi, Mamoru, and Akihiko.

"Guys!" Yuuki rushed over as quickly as he could, relieved when he saw that they were all breathing. Still alive. "Thank God…"

"Mr. Popo! Could you bring some senzu beans over here?" Goku looked to the genie, who quickly nodded and went off before looking back at the others. "Don't worry, Yuuki, they're all gonna be alright."

"This isn't right. None of this was supposed to happen! If Cell can do this much now… Then how the hell are we supposed to beat him?!" That was all Yuuki could think of, his mind going a million miles a second just thinking of a way out of this situation but coming up short.

Once Mr. Popo had given the four senzu beans, they all slowly began to stir awake, much to Yuuki's delight. "Hey, are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine.. But where the hell are we?" Mamoru asked, looking around at the lookout with a confused expression.

"We're at the lookout right now. You guys are all lucky that Goku saved you all… Is Cell really that powerful now?" Yuuki managed to ask through gritted teeth. He didn't want to believe something like this- that during this fight, his friends could die. That he could die, that millions of innocent people could die as well…

"He was stronger than we anticipated. But this is a problem. We managed to give Android 18 ample time to escape but I fear that it won't be long before she is found." Akihiko spoke with slight frustration in his voice.

"But what about Kimiko? Where's she?" Yuuki finally asked when he realized that Kimiko wasn't with the group, and neither were Satoshi and Hotaru.

"We had Kimiko run away with Satoshi and Hotaru since neither are in any condition to fight. But we have to hurry. If Cell is looking for Android 18, there isn't much time before he is able to lock on to Kimiko's power level." Gerome said with his eyes narrowing slightly. He hated the idea of Cell going after someone as helpless as Kimiko.

"But we need proper training. We all now know how much of a threat Cell is, and how dangerous this mission truly is. If we don't train or do something to help even the odds. The chances that we will make it home alive are slim." Akihiko spoke up once more. And the others all glared down at their feet.

They were all thinking the same thing. That this wasn't a game, this was reality. They could honestly die while on this mission, and if they didn't do something about it soon, their chance for survival would be slim.

"Come quickly! Vegeta, Trunks, and Tsunami are about to emerge from the time chamber!" Their thoughts were interrupted when they heard Mr. Popo, and Yuuki was the first to rush to the door of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

_"Tsukimi may be our ace in the hole now. If she made it to super saiyan then we just might have a chance!"_

Yuuki could only await eagerly as he saw the doors to the time chamber slowly open, and when they did, Tsunami was the first to emerge from it.

Her hair was slightly longer than it was when she first entered. Her original gi was completely worn out and had holes all over it. But what Yuuki first noticed was her eyes.

"Tsukimi…" He had never seen her eyes in this way before. He could see that the bags under her eyes had gotten worse, her skin was also slightly paler, and she looked like she had lost weight as well. And frankly speaking, she looked like she hadn't slept in over a year.

"Oh hell no! Get over here Girl! You didn't tell me you were gonna be spending a year with that fine piece of man! I want details and you know I want them now!" Kasumi went over to Tsukimi with a grin and wrapped her arm around the bow-wearing girl's shoulders.

"But hey, I know that you haven't been sleeping. Are you sure you're alright?" Kasumi whispered into Tsukimi's ear as the other girl let out a sigh and brushed herself off. "I'm fine Kasumi. And I don't have time to answer your questions now." Tsukimi said before taking a capsule out of her pocket and walked off into another room.

"Man, she looks bad. Really bad." Mamoru said, walking over as Yuuki was clenching his fists. "I know… I hope she really is ready for this."

Just when Yuuki had said that, he saw Tsukimi come back, now wearing blue saiyan armor similar to the armor Vegeta often wore. "Hey Tsukimi… Are you sure you're ready for this?" Yuuki managed to ask, only to see Tsukimi looking off into the distance.

"Regardless if I'm ready or not, I'm going. This is something I have to do Yuuki. And no one is going to stop me." Yuuki could see the determination in Tsukimi's tired eyes, but he couldn't help but worry about her. He had never seen her push herself this hard before..

"Here. You're going in there next. I know you're gonna get stronger but keep this for good luck." Tsukimi said, pulling the red hair ribbon out of her long, black hair, letting it cascade over her shoulders before handing the ribbon to Yuuki, who had a visible blush staining his cheeks.

"Good luck Yuuki. I know you're gonna get stronger, do your best in there." Tsukimi finished with a kind smile, the type of smile that often made Yuuki's heart skip a beat as he clenched the red ribbon in his hand. "Right, don't worry. I will. And good luck to you too, Tsukimi."

At that moment, Tsukimi had powered up, her hair changing into a vibrant blond, her eyes into a bright sky blue. He could feel her power level skyrocketing, and could only look in awe at her super saiyan form. _"She really did it…"_

"I'll be alright. I'll see you guys later." Was all Tsukimi said before jumping into the sky and flying off after Vegeta and Trunks. Yuuki could only watch her leave, clenching his fist to try to withhold any urge to beg her to stay.

"Please Tsukimi… Please stay safe."

"Yuuki? Are you ready?" Goku turned to Yuuki, tossing him a capsule since he and Gohan were already changed into the saiyan armor as well.

"Yeah. Let's go." Yuuki nodded, clenching the capsule in his hand as he began to follow the other two saiyans.

"Good luck in there dude!" Mamoru said with a determined expression on his face.

"Thanks, I'll need it!" Yuuki only smiled back at the others before stepping into the time chamber and the doors fell shut.

_"I'm going to get stronger! I have to! For her sake! And for the sake of everyone else!"_

* * *

"This is bad, we're running out of places to hide!" Kimiko was hiding behind a large tree with Hotaru next to her, still carrying Satoshi's body with her.

The two girls could only watch as Cell had blown up another small island in his search for Android 18, each blast getting closer to the one they were on.

_"This is really bad! I don't know what to do! I can't fight him off, but I can't protect them either!"_ Kimiko was gritting her teeth slightly, she could feel her heart pounding harder with every second that went by.

She felt completely helpless. She wasn't powerful. She couldn't fight. And yet she was tasked with protecting two of her friends from a monster like this on her own!

_"It's just like before.. Just like that time…"_

* * *

_"Mommy! Daddy!" Kimiko was only at the young age of seven years old and was running down a hallway in her home._

_All she could hear were explosions going off, and she could already see flames coming from different areas of her home. _

_"I'm scared! Make it stop!" She saw no sign of her parents, and tripped when she heard another nearby explosion going off. When she looked up, she saw that some burning wood panels were about to fall on her but she was completely paralyzed out of her own fear._

_"Kimiko!" The next thing she knew, she was being held in the arms of her grandfather, Hiroki, who began running down the hallway with the small girl in his arms._

_"Grandpa? What's going on? What's happening?"_

_"Don't worry Kimiko, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you!" His jet black eyes narrowed as he jumped down from one of the foyers and landed near the front entrance to the manor. _

_"Father!" Looking up the staircase, Kimiko saw the worried expression of her mother, Tsubaki as she began running down the stairs_

_"Mommy!" _

_"Come on, we have to get out of here!" Hiroki yelled before seeing the doors being blasted open and saw Kimiko's father, Fumio, skidding across the floor. "Daddy!" _

_Hiroki glared in the door's entrance, seeing the source of the attack on Kimiko's father. He appeared to be a large android, his cold blue eyes glowed for a moment before turning red._

_"Four beings of saiyan blood detected. Objection: Eradicate." Hiroki glared sharply at the android in front of him, holding Kimiko tightly in his arm, he reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out what looked to be a ray gun of some sort and began shooting at the android while running towards Tsubaki. _

_"Take her! Hurry! I'll hold him off while you three get away from here!" Hiroki continued to shoot but the attacks seemed to simply graze the android machine and wasn't doing anything to damage it._

_"But Father we can't! We can't leave you behind!" Tsubaki picked up Kimiko in her arms, only for Hiroki to look back at her. "THOSE DIABOLICAL BASTARDS AREN'T GONNA STOP UNTIL WE'RE ALL DEAD TSUBAKI! YOU HAVE TO LEAVE NO-" But the moment he had his back turned, the android fired a powerful energy beam at Hiroki, hitting him straight through his stomach as both Tsubaki and Kimiko screamed in pure horror. _

_"FATHER NOO!" _

_"GRANDPA!" _

_"First target neutralized." The android spoke before looking in Kimiko's direction. "RUN AWAY TSUBAKI!" Fumio yelled once he got up, but the moment the woman tried to run away, the android fired two blasts, the first one blowing Tsubaki's free right arm off of her body. And the moment she tried to look back at the android, the second blast had struck her straight in the right eye. _

_Kimiko's eyes widened in sheer horror as the blood began to pour from both of her mother's wounds. "MOMMY!" _

_"YOU BASTARD!" Fumio yelled, grabbing the ray gun Hiroki had dropped and shoving it into the Android's eye before kicking it out of the house, and following it was an explosion that sent small pieces of scrap metal back into the house. _

_"Tsubaki!" Fumio rushed back over to his wife and daughter, Kimiko's eyes were pouring tears and her whole body was trembling in fear. "Mommy… Please don't die mommy!" _

_"Don't worry Kimiko. She isn't going to die and neither is your grandpa!" Fumio spoke through gritted teeth as he leaned down and picked Tsubaki up in his arms. "Get on Daddy's back, Kimiko. We have to go." Kimiko nodded shakily, grabbing onto her father's back, holding on for dear life as he then picked up Hiroki's body and began running outside, where more of those same androids could be seen._

_The streets were in utter chaos, buildings completely destroyed, and the screams of thousands of innocent civilians could be heard._

_All Kimiko could do was cling to her father's back, the tears still falling from her face. "I'm scared Daddy! Make it all stop! Please make it stop!"_

* * *

"Kimiko!" Kimiko snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Hotaru shaking her shoulder, actually looking at her with a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yes. I'm fine. We should keep going." Kimiko tried to shake those thoughts out of her mind as she started running with Satoshi in tow once again.

But as Hotaru followed her, she could tell that something else was wrong. _"There's no way she's okay… Not if she was shaking and crying like that. She looked like she just saw someone die."_

When the girls stopped behind a giant boulder. Kimiko panted softly before setting Satoshi down and looked at the hole in his clothes. The wound had been completely sealed up. But he had yet to wake up.

"Satoshi…" She saw Hotaru looking at Satoshi with a concerned expression on her face. "He still hasn't woken up…" She could plainly see just how worried Hotaru was about him, and realized that right now wasn't the best time to be worrying over the past. And that they needed her to be strong.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll wake up soon. But right now, we have to keep moving." As Kimiko was getting up, she suddenly felt Hotaru grab her hand. "Hey… Did you really mean what you said before? About me being your friend? I mean… I said horrible things to you and treated you like dirt…" Hotaru was glaring down at the ground as she spoke.

But Kimiko smiled softly back at her. "Yes, I really did. You are my friend Hotaru. And if you ever need anyone to talk to, you can come to me alright?" When Hotaru looked up at Kimiko's smile, all she could do was bite her lip slightly and look back down.

_"I know why Satoshi likes her so much… She's like him. An embodiment of light… While I'm just a being of darkness…"_ Just being around Kimiko like this, seeing how kind she was… It truly made Hotaru feel like she was inadequate.

"I'll never be able to shine like that…" But the moment she said that, Hotaru saw a red light shining down on her and when she looked up, both her and Kimiko's eyes were wide with horror when they saw that Cell was about to blow up the island they were standing on!**  
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**So glad I'm getting in the swing of things and sorry if this chapter isn't the best, I'm still a little rusty and wrote this one in a bit of a rush, but don't worry I'm gonna work hard to make sure that the next ones are even better! So please review and take my poll! ^^**


	26. Chapter 25

Both Hotaru and Kimiko could only look wide-eyed at the large red energy ball that Cell had in the palms of his hands. They had no time to run and no where to hide either.

_"T-This is it! We're going to die!"_ That was the only thought that went through Kimiko's mind. she was completely gripped by her own fear and stuck standing in place.

Hotaru had squeezed her eyes shut and was hugging Satoshi's body tightly, just waiting for the blast to hit them and end it all.

"V…Vegeta?" Was all that came from Kimiko's mouth. She saw Cell's attention was now directed at a super saiyan Vegeta, who was smirking confidently back at him.

"Vegeta?" Hotaru opened her eyes again and looked pat the sky to see the two already lowering down to another part of the island and breathed a small sigh of relief._ "It looks like we're safe… For now at least."_

"Kimiko!" Looking up, Kimiko smiled excitedly when she saw Tsukimi- now as a super saiyan, flying towards them. "Tsukimi! Oh wow… I can't believe it! You're a super saiyan!"

Hotaru's eyes were completely wide. She had never seen Tsukimi look so… Powerful before. _"Is this really Tsukimi? There's no way it can be.. Her power is off the charts!"_ But that wasn't all, she could also see the bags under Tsukimi's eyes, and could tell that she clearly wasn't well.

"It's so good to see you Tsukimi, I can't believe how much more powerful you've gotten!" Kimiko was just relieved to know that she had someone who would help them out but she wasn't blind, she could see that Tsukimi was clearly exhausted.

"Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine. But what happened to Satoshi?" Tsukimi's eyes suddenly trailed to the unconscious boy that Hotaru was holding on to.

"It's a long story, and we'll explain everything later but right now, we have to get out of here. This place isn't safe." Hotaru spoke as Kimiko went over to her, helping her to hold up Satoshi.

"Everything's gonna be fine, right now, Vegeta has Cell busy so we have some time to get away during the battle. But you guys have to go ahead. I'm going to stay here." Just as soon as Tsukimi had finished that sentence, she could feel the ground starting to shake under them, a sign that the battle between Vegeta and Cell was about to begin.

"But Tsukimi? What are you going to do" Kimiko asked, only to see that Tsukimi was glaring at the battle between Cell and Vegeta. "Just take care of some business. Don't worry about me. But you guys need to go." Kimiko couldn't help but look at her with some concern.

She had never seen that kind of sharpness in Tsukimi's eyes before, or that kind of vengeful expression on her face. If looks could kill, then Kimiko had no doubt that either Cell or Vegeta would be dead right now.

"Right. Come on, we should get going, Hotaru." Kimiko spoke up, earning a nod from the brunette as they began to run to another part of the island. Right now, they barely had enough energy to fly while holding Satoshi so running was their only option.

From the corner of her eyes, Tsukimi watched as the two girls ran away from the scene. Only breathing a small relieved sigh. _"No matter what happens, I'm not going to let them or anyone else die! Even if I have to give up my own life in the process!"_

With that thought in her mind, Tsukimi continued to watch the battle between Vegeta and Cell and could see Trunks watching the battle just as intensely as she was._ "Come on Vegeta, quit playing with him and finish him off already! He can't win! This is our chance to finally get rid of him!"_

Clenching her fists at her sides, Tsukimi was fighting every urge she had within her body just to not jump in and finish Cell off for herself. But she knew that for right now, she had to keep herself under control.

_"Knowing my father's nature, there's a chance that he'll try to let Cell achieve his perfect form. If that happens, you need to be ready to help me stop both Cell and my father from dooming everyone in this world."_

The words Trunks had said were resonating within her mind. His voice was the only thing keeping her from attacking Cell at this very moment. _"Vegeta, if you mess up this chance for us to kill Cell. You're going to regret it!"_

* * *

"Damn it!" Yuuki growled to himself, panting heavily after another failed attempt at turning into a super saiyan.

_"Why can't I get the hang of it?"_ Looking up from his panting, he could already see that Gohan was a lot further in the training and almost had full control of his super saiyan form by now. But he just continued to lag behind.

_"Why am I not getting this? What makes Gohan different from me?"_ Yuuki looked down at himself but just couldn't see the difference. He knew that Gohan was at least half saiyan. He couldn't say the same for himself to be honest.

He had no idea how much of a saiyan he truly was. He took a glance at the long tail that was moving beside him, covered in dark brown fur. That was the proof that he was a saiyan, but if that were true; then why was he having so much trouble controlling his super saiyan form?

"I don't have time to be held back like this! What's stopping me from controlling my super saiyan form?" He just couldn't understand what was stopping him from achieving that form.

_"I have to get stronger… I have to get stronger for Tsukimi, and for everyone else!"_ But the moment that thought went through his mind, Yuuki's eyes widened when he began having another one of his own visions.

And it was the same as before. Tsukimi trembling in sheer terror and crying, having given up hope on life itself. For as long as Yuuki would continue to live, he would never be able to rid himself of that horrific image.

And like with the other visions, it vanished as quickly as it appeared. But after that moment, Yuuki reached into his white and yellow saiyan armor vest and took out the red ribbon that Tsukimi had given him just before he entered the time chamber.

_"I know you can get stronger Yuuki."_

_"She has faith in me, so I can't just give up! I have to keep trying!"_ And with that, Yuuki picked himself up, and began powering up once more.

_"Tsukimi… I really hope you're alright."_ All he could remember was the look of pure exhaustion on Tsukimi's face. The bags under her eyes, how much more pale she had gotten, he was only hoping that she wasn't pushing herself too far.

* * *

Tsukimi's ebony black eyes continued to trail over every single moment of the bio-android Vegeta was fighting against.

No matter how much she tried to hold herself back from attacking, she could still feel the rage building up inside of her. Every single one of her nightmares continued to haunt her, every blood-stained image would forever haunt her mind.

With every punch she saw Vegeta deliver, all she saw was another failed chance to kill him. Another chance to finally end his reign of terror, another chance to finally make all of the pain and suffering he's caused end for good.

_"Come on Vegeta! Finish him off already! You're just playing with him now damn it!"_ It was getting harder and harder for her to control herself.

Low growling was coming from her throat, her eyes in a sharp glare directed straight at the bio-android that was completely vulnerable right now. If she were to attack now, it would be all over… The fear, the pain, the nightmares. It would all end.

And just when Tsukimi felt that she couldn't just sit idly by and wait to attack anymore. She was suddenly stopped when she saw Trunks looking at her.

The lavender-haired boy shook his head a couple of times, and just by that small gesture, Tsukimi continued to clench her fists and tried to calm herself down.

They had a plan in place, and being reckless and consumed by emotion wasn't going to help anyone.

"Don't listen to him Dad… Be smart!" Tsukimi could see that Trunks was getting more concerned about the fight. Cell was trying to convince Vegeta to let him achieve his perfect form, stroking the saiyan prince's ego.

"Don't listen to him Vegeta, he's just trying to trick you! Kill him already!" Tsukimi hissed under her breath. Even she could hear Cell trying to work Vegeta over.

"You can't deny that you're curious! Your race lives for the thrill of battle! The stronger the opponent, the more you welcome the challenge! Anything to give you a true test of your strength. I'm right aren't I? You want to see my perfect form don't you? Just to truly test the limits of your own power." Cell wore a devilish smirk as he spoke, he knew just the right buttons to push to make Vegeta bend to his will. It was just a matter of time now…

"Hmph. You do know me well. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued. Very well, I'll allow myself to be coaxed into your little trap. Go on then, obtain your perfect form." Vegeta finished with a smirk, causing Tsukimi to growl sharply.

"Dad! You can't listen to him! He's trying to trick you! If you don't stop him here, he'll-"

"Silence Trunks. I would take no pride in defeating this worthless worm in his current state."

"Will you forget your stupid pride for once?! Lives are in danger here!"

"I said silence!" Trunks grit his teeth, but he had a feeling that something like this was going to happen. He knew how prideful his father was.

"Tsukimi! Now!" Trunks called out the moment he saw Cell beginning to make his move and swiftly appeared in front of the android.

At that moment, Tsukimi growled and formed a pair of spirit swords in her hands as she flew straight towards Cell. "My father may condone this but I don't! Now Tsukimi!" Trunks yelled. Tsukimi held both swords in her hand and was aiming straight for Cell's neck.

_"This is it! It's all finally going to end! It's all going to be over!"_ Tsukimi yelled at the top of her lungs, but just before she could attack, she was hit with a powerful blast to her side, sending her spiraling towards the ground.

"Tsukimi!" Trunks called out before glaring at Vegeta, who was shown to have fired the blast. "Don't interfere!"

"Damn you… When I'm done with him! You're gonna be next!" Tsukimi growled, flying back up, only to see Cell looking in a single direction with a shocked expression on his face.

When Tsukimi looked in the same direction, her eyes widened in horror at what she had just seen. Android 18 was sitting out in the open, and Cell had just spotted her.

"N-No…" Was all Tsukimi could say, she knew that if Cell had achieve his perfect form then it would be all over. All of her visions would come true! Her friends would all die!

"What are they doing down there?! They're not even paying attention to what's going on!" Trunks hissed as he looked down at the scene. It seemed that android 18 was talking to Krillin and Android 16 was too injured to move.

"GET OUT OF THERE NOW! RUN AWAY! HE'S SPOTTED YOU!" Tsukimi screamed at the top of her lungs before forming her spirit swords in her hands once more.

"I can't let him achieve his perfect form! I won't! I'm not going to let my friends die!"

The moment Tsukimi had yelled, Cell smirked as he began flying towards the blonde android. "LIKE HELL YOU ARE!" Trunks yelled, powering up and following Cell in hot pursuit with Tsukimi following as fast as she can.

_"I can't let him win! I just can't!"_ As soon as Tsukimi was close enough, she kicked Cell as hard as she could in the stomach and was about to use her spirit swords to behead the android before being blasted away by Cell at the last second, leaving Trunks to fire a series of energy blasts at Cell, just to subdue him before punching him as hard as he could into a rock formation and firing a powerful energy blast straight after it, causing a large-scale explosion.

"Damn it!.." Tsukimi cursed under her breath as she was getting back up from the ground. Every part of her body was aching, her vision was blurring in and out, and she could already feel it getting harder and harder for her to get back up on her own two feet.

_"I have to make it just a little bit longer, just enough to kill him! then I can finally rest easy. I can't give up now!"_ She forced herself back up, despite the pain and exhaustion haunting her, she knew that right now, it was now or never.

"Damn it! He's hiding his energy! He could be anywhere!" Trunks growled, looking around once he felt Cell's energy vanish.

But it was shortly after, that Cell had reemerged with a sinister smirk, right in front of both Android 18 and Krillin. "Android 18… I've finally found you!"

"This is my chance!" Tsukimi growled, forming her spirit swords in her hands once more and charged straight towards Cell. "I have to kill him! It has to end here and now!"

But like before, she was blasted harshly from the side and send spiraling into a rock formation by Vegeta. "Damn him…" She growled, trying to pick herself up once again but was finding that her body was starting to go on her.

_"I can't pick myself up again… My body won't listen…"_ Every fiber of her being was in pain, she could barely muster up anymore strength to pick herself up again.

_"But I can't give up…"_ The horrific nightmares that she's been plagued with was what kept her going. The fear of seeing those visions coming true, and the desire to keep her friends safe.

When Tsukimi finally picked herself up out of the rubble from the rock formation she had crashed into, she saw that Trunks had already gone on the offensive and was ruthlessly beating Cell as hard as he could.

Just that sight alone was enough to bring a small smile to Tsukimi's face. She knew that she did have someone else to count on, someone to back her up.

_"Please Trunks, hurry and finish it! End it! I want it all to end already!"_ Was all Tsukimi could think as she clenched her fists, her super saiyan form had come undone, she didn't even have the strength to keep that form up anymore.

But the moment she looked up into the sky, she saw Cell heading in the direction of the sun and before she knew what was going to happen next, all she could see was a blinding solar flare attack.

"That bastard!" She winced, trying to get her eyes to open up again but she knew what his plan was. To blind everyone just to get to android 18!

_"I can't let that happen! I only have one shot… For Yuuki's sake, for everyone's sake, I can't miss!"_ She could already hear Android 18's screams in her ears, Cell was already in the process of absorbing her.

"DIE YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING BASTARD!" Tsukimi screamed at the top of her lungs, throwing her spirit sword as hard as she could straight in Cell's direction.

After a few moments, Tsukimi slowly began to open her eyes, seeing her sword heading straight for Cell's neck. But the sword simply broke into pieces the moment it came in contact with Cell. His body now glowing with energy, his power level already starting to skyrocket.

Her eyes widened, her knees gave out under her and her body began to tremble. Every scream, every bloody image, every one of her friend's deaths, they were all playing in her mind at once.

"I-It's over…" Tears began to pool in Tsukimi's bloodshot eyes, already spilling down her cheeks as she clenched the dirt under her. "We're all going to die…" 

* * *

At that moment, the island itself was beginning to shake, stopping Kimiko in her tracks once she felt the increase in Cell's power.

"I-It's unlike anything I've ever felt before!" Her eyes went wide when she saw the enormous mass of energy in the very center of the island.

Hotaru looked from the energy to Kimiko, she could see how worried she was about Tsukimi, and honestly didn't feel right just keeping her from helping one of her real friends. "You go check on Tsukimi."

"But what about you? Are you sure?" Kimiko asked with an unsure tone, only to see Hotaru holding up Satoshi's body. "Yeah, we'll be fine. Besides, I can already sense the others heading this way. You go check on your friend. I'm not gonna keep you here." Hotaru's gaze was locked on Satoshi, fearing that if she were to look in Kimiko's eyes again, her radiance would continue to hurt her.

"Thank you Hotaru. Please stay safe until the others get here!" Kimiko smiled softly at Hotaru before beginning to fly towards the power source._ "Something is wrong! Tsukimi's power level just vanished!"_

"We really are out of our league here…" Hotaru glared out at the horizon, the sky was now pitch black with large rainclouds. Thunder and lightning exploded the moment it struck the energy shield Cell had around the island. Even the water was forming large cyclones all around the island just from his newfound power.

"Satoshi…" She knew that if Satoshi were awake, he would tell he not to worry, that everything would work out fine. But without hearing his voice, all she could do was hug him tightly in her arms as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Satoshi… I'm scared…" 

* * *

In a single flash, the light began to dim down. The clouds beginning the dissipate as well as the cyclones around the island. Tsukimi, Krillin, Android 16, and Trunks could only watch in horror as Cell had finally achieved his perfect form.

Tsukimi could plainly feel that his power level was completely devastating. Nothing that she could ever hope to hold a candle to.

"All of that training… It was for nothing… " Through tear-soaked eyes, Tsukimi looked down at her own hands. She had worked so hard to obtain this super saiyan form, only to have it be rendered completely useless in a single moment.

_"We can't win… We're all going to die!" _

Holding her head in her hands, Tsukimi's tears began coming down more profusely, her entire body trembling with sheer horror.

Looking down at her hands, Tsukimi's eyes widened when she saw that they were covered in blood. Just like in all of her nightmares she could see the blood splattered on her hands and on herself as well. The blood of her dead friends…

"We're going to die… We're all going to die…" When Trunks looked to Tsukimi, his eyes widened as well. "..Tsukimi?" She was completely devastated.

Tears were falling down her face, her eyes completely bloodshot with bags under them. Her body trembling with sheer horror painted on her face.  
"We're all going to die…" The way she spoke was completely hollow. Like as if her mind had just shut down, and she was speaking as merely an empty shell now.

* * *

**Yeah I think I had too much fun writing Tsukimi here. Even though I don't think this is one of my best chapters. I was having an off day and I didn't feel like re-writing it but don't worry the next chapter will be much better and as usual, thank you for reading and please leave a review if you liked it! ^^  
**


	27. Chapter 26

Tsukimi had fallen to her knees, all she could see was the blood staining her hands, the screams of her dying friends were ringing her ears, making her try desperately to cover her ears in a pitiful attempt to make the screaming stop.

_"I-It's over! It's all over! We're all going to die! We're going to die and it's all my fault!"_ That was all that went through her mind, she was the one who agreed to help Trunks when he asked for it and dragged the rest of her friends with her.

She was the one who had already failed numerous times at killing Cell when she had the perfect chance staring at her in the face.

And she was the one who- though she knew what would happen if she failed- failed at stopping Cell from achieving his perfect form and the face of death was now staring straight into her face.

And the blood of all of her friends was now splattered on her hands, and it would never wash off no matter how much she tried.

Her body was trembling in sheer fear, large tears continued to fall from her eyes one after the other. "W-We're all going to die…" Was all she was able to mutter under her breath.

"Tsukimi?" Trunks looked at the saiyan girl, only for his eyes to widen when he saw the state she was in. In the entire time that he had known her, he never thought that she would ever have this look of sheer hopelessness on her face. The look that he knew all too well from the thousands of innocents back in his timeline.

_"This is bad! She's finally going to snap! I can't let that happen I can't let this destroy her mind!"_ But just before Trunks could go over to the girl, he blinked when he saw Krillin rushing toward sCell and kicking the android in the neck, but to meet with no reaction from the taller creature, who was still looking over his new perfect form.

"Wait! Don't!" Trunks called out, but Krillin continued to attack Cell with a flurry of powerful punches and kicks but every attack was met with no response whatsoever. As if he wasn't even there.

Gritting his teeth, in a last ditch effort to take the android down, Krillin summoned all of his energy into a single Kienzan attack and threw it at Cell as hard as he could, only for his eyes to widen when it simply was destroyed upon impact with Cell's neck.

Krillin was struck with awe and shock, that was the same attack that managed to cut Frieza's tail off and he didn't even have a single scratch on him! But before Krillin could do anything more, he saw Cell appear in front of him with a sinister smirk.

Tsukimi only looked up from her hands when she saw Cell moving towards Krillin. Upon seeing the look of fear on Krillin's face made all of Tsukimi's previous nightmares start to haunt her all over again. All she could see was the anguished faces of her friends.

"P-Please don't… Don't…STOP IT!" Tsukimi yelled at the top of her lungs just as Cell had roughly kicked Krillin in the neck, the smaller man's eyes going completely blank as his body fell limply onto the ground away from them.

"KRILLIN!" Trunks called out and quickly rushed off to help the fallen warrior, only for Cell's eyes to land on Tsukimi. Who was still trembling with fear.

"Is something the matter, Little Girl? You look a little pale." A sinister smirk formed on the android's face as he began walking towards the trembling girl.

Tsukimi's eyes widened as she found herself unable to move from her spot. Every blood-stained vision was repeating in her mind all at once. And she could already see the blood stains all over the android's body.

"S-Stay away from me!" The tears continued to fall from Tsukimi's bloodshot eyes, and she managed to find some little strength to force herself to back up a couple of steps.

"I think I will enjoy toying with you." Cell spoke in a sadistic tone of voice, only for his eyes to be averted to his left when he saw Vegeta walking over.

"Does toying with the weak make you feel all big inside? I hope so because looking at you, that will certainly be the last taste of victory you'll ever enjoy." Vegeta said in his usual cocky tone of voice.

"We'll see about that but I wonder if you're willing to help me in warming up?" Cell smirked back at the saiyan prince, perfectly copying his own cocky tone.

Tsukimi could only watch as the two were preparing to fight but she could clearly feel that Cell was out of Vegeta's league, that his power level was far above that of Vegeta's, and that Vegeta was simply doomed to lose this fight.

"W-We're all going to die…" That was the only thing Tsukimi could utter, the moment that Cell had obtained that perfect power he had sought after for so long, was the moment she realized that none of them stood a chance against this behemoth.

All Tsukimi could do was sit helplessly and watch the ensuing battle. With every ki blast, every punch, every evade, she could feel the boundless energy that was truly beneath Cell's surface. the true power that he was hiding from the other warriors until he found an opponent he deemed worthy enough.

Her body continued to tremble, looking down at her hands, all she could see was blood staining them- the blood from her friends again. And like before, their screams of agony began to fill her ears again, making her shut her eyes tightly as she tried desperately to cover her ears.

"I-It won't stop! Make it stop!" But no matter how much she pled and cried, the screams would forever be engraved into her memory, along with the horrific images of her friends' deaths every time she were to close her eyes.

"Tsukimi!" Amidst the rubble, Kimiko had managed to hone in on what little power level Tsukimi was giving off. But the moment she saw the state Tsukimi was in, Kimiko's eyes widened.

Her eyes had dark bags under them and were completely bloodshot and pouring with tears. Her skin was as white as a bed sheet, her body trembling and her hands clamped over her ears tightly, as if trying to block something out.

"Tsukimi? Tsukimi, it's me! Are you alright?" Kimiko tried to talk to her friend, but the moment Tsukimi opened her eyes and looked at Kimiko, all she met with was a horrified scream as the long-haired girl tried to back up as much as she could.

"I-I'm sorry Kimiko! I'm sorry I let this happen!" Tsukimi's tears continued to trail down her face but her expression was that as if she had just seen a ghost.

"Let what happen? What's wrong Tsukimi? You can talk to me!" Kimiko got closer, only for Tsukimi to continue to back away. "I-I didn't want anyone to die! I don't want to lose anyone else! I never wanted anyone else to die but I failed!"

Kimiko realized that there was no talking to her, that Tsukimi's grip on her very sanity was starting to loosen. Biting her lip slightly, Kimiko got as close to Tsukimi as she could before pressing a pressure point in the girl's neck, making her fall over unconscious.

"Tsukimi…" She muttered, holding her friend up as she saw the tears soaking into her clothes.

In all the time she's known Tsukimi, Kimiko had never once seen her with such an expression. Like as if she had given up on life itself and was just waiting to die.

Feeling another explosion making the island rumble, Kimiko knew that she had to get Tsukimi off of the island as well as Hotaru before things got even more chaotic.

"Hey! Kimiko!" Looking up, Kimiko smiled when she saw Kasumi and Akihiko flying down towards her.

"I'm so glad you two are here! We have to hurry and get off this island before things get even more chaotic!" Kimiko said quickly, only for Kasumi to look at Tsukimi with a slightly surprised expression. "Is she alright Kimiko? I mean she really doesn't look good…"

"…I can't say for sure. When I found her, she was in a state of hysteria. It looked as if her very fears themselves were taking a hold of her, and nearly took her sanity along with them. I had to knock her out so I could get her out of here. She's in no condition to fight right now." Kimiko explained to see Akihiko already looking at Tsukimi's face for a minute.

"It seems that her physical condition is worsening. She is clearly exhausted. I don't know how long it's been since she last slept but it seems that the best thing we can do for her now is to get her somewhere where she can rest." Akihiko concluded, placing one of Tsukimi's arms around his shoulder while Kasumi repeated the action with her other arm.

"Right, and we better get moving, the prince of all thunders is gonna get his ass kicked soon and I wanna see it happen!" Kasumi said with a smirk as the two began flying away from the island.

Just as another explosion hit the island, it made Kimiko stumble and fall onto the ground, but as she looked from the ground, she spotted what looked like someone's boot sticking out from behind a large tree.

Curiosity overtook her and she carefully went towards that tree. Only to blink a couple of times in surprise when she saw what looked like Android 13, leaning against the tree with his left arm pouring blood and a massive head wound that stained the left side of his silver hair red with his own blood.

"Android 13?" She carefully asked, seeing the larger man slowly open his eyes to look down at her. "The hell is a little thing like you doin' here?" Kimiko could tell by the way that he spoke that he was obviously weak.

Before she could answer, the island rumbled once more from the backlash of Vegeta's fight with Cell, making the blonde android look at the fight off the horizon for a moment. "You should get out of here while's still can."

Kimiko knew that Android 13 couldn't be as bad as the others may have thought. She remembered seeing him helping Satoshi during their initial fight with Cell, and the expression that he had showed that he was feeling regret and loss over his two fallen friends.

"Can you stand?" Kimiko asked, making the blonde android look to his side when he saw the short-haired girl trying to help him up.

"The hell're you doin'? Leave me here and get outta here while you can!" android 13 couldn't understand it. She was supposed to see him as an enemy but here she was risking her own safety by helping him out.

"I'm sorry but I can't do that. When I see someone in need of help, I just can't bring myself to turn the other cheek. And I can tell hat you need my help as well." Kimiko looked at the android with a friendly smile.

Something that 13 hadn't seen in a very long time- if ever in his life had he seen someone actually smile like that.

It was full of purity, innocence. Like she was immune to all of the filth that had corrupted the world and could truly see it for the beautiful place that it was.

"Can you fly at least?" Breathing out a sigh, 13 could tell that trying to get her to leave was going to be impossible. But he couldn't completely object, he barely had any energy left of his own and was losing more with each passing second.

"Gerome!" Looking up in the sky, Kimiko smiled when she saw Gerome flying above her and quickly towards her once she was spotted.

"Kimiko, we have to hurry and get off the island… Android 13? What are you doing here?" Gerome could clearly tell that 13 wasn't up for a fight, he thought it would be a miracle if the android could even stand on his own or not.

"Please help me Gerome. We have to help him get out of here too!" Gerome quickly looked to Kimiko in disbelief, why would she be trying to help someone like Android 13?

"You can't be serious Kimiko! He is dangerous! He's the most brutal android Dr. Gero has ever created!" Gerome only met with Kimiko's eyes staring back into his own.

"Even so, Dr. Gero considered you a failure did he not? And we proved him wrong now didn't we? I don't believe that android 13 is so bad of a guy. He was helping us earlier and we can't just leave him here to die. So please Gerome, help me save him."

Gerome couldn't break the gaze Kimiko had his own eyes locked in, clenching his fist for a moment, Gerome went over to the android and started helping him out from under his arms. Every fiber of his being was telling him to leave 13 there, to let him die for all of the bloodshed he caused.

But he still couldn't argue with Kimiko, nor deny her wishes either.

"Come on, let's go." Gerome was basically holding Android 13 on his back, holding the larger android's arms in his own as he started to fly, only earning a happy smile from Kimiko who followed suit. "Thank you Gerome."

Android 13 looked from Gerome to Kimiko. He could see that she was different. She was truly a kind person. Someone the complete opposite of him. As he closed his eyes, only a single thought went through his mind.

_"It's such a shame that she'll be tainted by the ugly truths of this world soon enough."_

* * *

Kasumi and Akihiko were still carrying Tsukimi and flying with her off the island. Kasumi could see her already fidgeting, her expressions starting to change as well as mumble slightly in her sleep.

"There has to be a reason she can't sleep. She can't keep going like this, it'll kill her or put her in a nut house!" Kasumi could only look at her friend with concern. She had known Tsukimi to show a weak side to herself like this before and frankly, she wasn't sure how to even handle it.

"Psychological matters are out of our hands. It could simply fade away on its own but it could also worsen if we don't take action. This is a frustrating situation." Akihiko breathed out his own sigh before seeing Mamoru flying towards them with Hotaru, the two helping to fly Satoshi's body with them..

"Man, can you feel that? Vegeta's going all out against Cell but it doesn't look like it's gonna do much good." Mamoru took a small glance behind him, only to see what looked like the light from an energy blast fading away from the distance.

"That man is nothing but an arrogant idiot. There's no way that he can stand up to that monster's power as he is now." Hotaru bit her lip as she looked at Satoshi.

_"He still hasn't woken up…"_ That is what concerned her the most. She thought that he would have at least woken up by now but he was still in an almost comatose state and wasn't showing any signs of waking up yet.

His wounds were healing, he wasn't pale anymore, but Hotaru couldn't understand why he hadn't woken up yet, and the longer he stayed unconscious, the more worried she got.

"The situation is worsening. With Cell already achieving his perfect form and being able to out-power a super saiyan of Vegeta's level, the outcome is looking more and more bleak." Akihiko spoke up, looking ahead with a small glare in his eyes, he knew that he was supposed to become stronger, strong enough to protect the rest of his friends but right now, it seemed that all he could do was run away.

And that frustrated him to no end.

"But come on, Vegeta's a damned pansy that lets Goku top him! Besides, Vegeta isn't exactly the strongest guy around here. Right now I bet even Trunks can kick his ass. Right now though, we need to find out what's up with Tsukimi and hope that she gets better. Let's face it; she's pretty much the strongest out of all of us right now. She was able to make it to super saiyan too so we have a lot riding on her." Kasumi looked at Tsukimi, still in the grips of her own fears and let out a small sigh.

She wasn't used to Tsukimi showing this kind of a weak side to herself, and was praying in the back of her mind that the nightmares would pass and not be a symptom of a more serious problem.

"Hey, where the hell did Kimiko go off to?" Mamoru finally asked while looking around a bit, realizing that Kimiko wasn't with the group.

"We're here!" Kimiko called out, catching up to the group from behind with Gerome. And much to the surprise of the others, she had android 13 tagging along with her.

"Kimiko what the hell are you doing with him?! He's our enemy here! We can't just bring him back with us!" Kasumi exclaimed first.

"But look at him! He's too injured right now to even stand up, we have to help him! I couldn't just leave him to his death, even if he has fought against us, I saw him trying to help Satoshi during our first fight with Cell so I know that he is a good person deep down!" Kimiko said with a more defensive tone.

That little voice speaking within her heart was telling her that she was doing the right thing by helping Android 13.

"And you're honestly helping her with this, Gerome? You know that this will just come back and bite us in the asses right?" Mamoru asked as Gerome let out a small sigh. "I am well aware of that chance. But… I couldn't refuse her request." He finished while glancing down in an almost ashamed expression.

"Heh, you should listen to 'yer friends, girly. The moment I see Goku, I'm gonna kill him. That ain't gonna change." 13 spoke firmly, only to meet with small glares from the rest of the group save for Kimiko.

"I wanted to help you because I know that deep down, you aren't a bad person, 13. You're like Androids 17 and 18 aren't you? You were forced to become an android- devoid of your own free will and doing the bidding of Gero's computer. But I know that you can change your own destiny. Nothing is set in stone. You can be the good person I know you are inside." Kimiko finished, giving the blonde android a kind-hearted smile.

Looking at the girl for a moment, Android 13 could only chuckle slightly, there was a somewhat nostalgic feeling when it came to looking at Kimiko. But for the life of him, he couldn't understand why that was. "Whatever you say, little girly. I don't have the strength to argue anyway."

"So where are we heading first?" Kasumi asked as she adjusted Tsukimi's position on her shoulder a bit.

"We should go to Capsule Corporation first; there, we can convince Bulma to help repair Androids 16 and 13 while giving Satoshi and Tsukimi somewhere they can rest." Kimiko replied as she started flying along with the others.

"Are you sure about this Kimiko? I mean, I know you want to help him but he's a killing machine! Literally!" Mamoru whispered to Kimiko, only getting a more confident smile from her. "He'll be on his best behavior. There's nothing to worry about at all." She smiled before her eyes widened along with the rest of the group.

"Do you guys feel it too?" Mamoru asked, looking over his shoulder in the direction where Cell was, and could feel Trunks' power level starting to skyrocket to levels they had never felt before from Trunks.

"Yeah, he's going all out over there. Hopefully it'll be enough." Kasumi said, placing one of her hands on her black crystal pendant that was inside of her top.

* * *

"GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU GOT!" Yuuki yelled, he was clearly showing signs of getting tired, and was looking up at Goku, flying above him and began powering a kamehameha blast in his hands.

_"Why can't I transform into a super saiyan?! WHY?!"_ The moment the attack was fired, Yuuki held his hands, out, trying to keep the attack from pushing any further while skidding back on his feet.

_"All this time I've been weak! I haven't been of any help at all! When we fought Gero, Androids 17 and 18, when I first saw Cell. I was weak through it all! I can't stay this way! They need my help!"_

With that thought in his mind, Yuuki screamed at the top of his lungs, summoning every bit of power that he could muster and forced the kamehameha back towards Goku, who was easily able to swat it away.

"Looks like you're catching up." The older man said with a small smile, already seeing that Yuuki's hair had turned blonde, and his eyes were flashing between sky blue and pitch black.

"Take hold of that power! Clear your mind and you'll be able to control it!" But he could see it very well. There was a reason that Yuuki was having so much trouble controlling his super saiyan form.

There was something different about him that Goku couldn't put his finger on. He had never encountered anything like this before.

Yuuki continued to strain himself, trying to hold on to that power, only to finally let his breath out and fell to his knees, his hair remained black and his eye color, unchanged.

Panting heavily, Yuuki looked down at his hands before clenching them into tight fists and punching the ground. "DAMN IT! WHY CAN'T I GET THIS?!" He growled, it was infuriating!

_"Tsukimi's counting on me to get the hang of this, but why can't I?! What's wrong with me?!"_ He continued to clench his fists and squeeze his eyes shut in anger before feeling Goku place his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up so hard. I can already see that you're getting a lot stronger, Yuuki. You don't need to push yourself so hard." Goku was smiling at Yuuki, making the boy blink once before smiling softly himself.

"Thank you Goku. But I need to get stronger so I'm going to keep at it for a little while longer." Yuuki replied, picking himself up and clenching his fists slightly while looking down at his hands.

_"I almost had it but why can't I get it?"_

"Don't push yourself too hard, we have plenty of time." Goku smiled back at the boy, only making Yuuki smile back while starting to walk away with his back to Goku.

_"Maybe the training is getting to me but for a minute there… He looked just like Dad."_

* * *

As the rest of the kids continued to fly towards Capsule corp, they all stopped when they felt the same sensation; that Trunks' power level was dropping like a stone.

"Looks like Trunks wasn't able to finish the job either.. Damn it." Kasumi let out a sigh, only to blink when she saw Tsukimi suddenly open her eyes and look back in the direction Trunks was in.

And without saying a word, the long-haired girl began flying back. Leaving the rest of her friends bewildered. "H-Hey! Tsukimi! Come back!" Kasumi called before looking at the others. "We'll go get Tsukimi, the rest of you go ahead! Tsukimi!" Kasumi called once more, flying after the speeding girl with Kimiko following closely after her.

"What could be possessing her to do this? She knows that right now, she can't meet Cell's power levels!" Kimiko exclaimed, only for Kasumi to bite her lip slightly. "She knows that. But the thing is, when I saw her fly off. She looked like she just saw someone die."

Tsukimi on the other hand continued to fly as quickly as she could back towards Trunks' power level. She could already feel tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes, her heart racing, and her skin in a cold sweat.

A large hole through his chest, blood pooling directly under him, seeing him coughing up blood for his last breath, his eyes glazing over as the icy grip of death's hand wraps around his neck.

_"I can't let him die! I just can't!"_ Tsukimi bit her lip as she continued to fly, yet another nightmare had haunted her mind, but feeling Trunks' power level dropping like this, she knew that she just had to make sure for herself. To find out if Trunks was really alive or not!

_"Please Trunks, you can't be dead! you're our only hope! you're the strongest! Without you, we're all doomed!"_ Tsukimi squeezed her bloodshot eyes closed for a moment before looking down at the island seeing Trunks just standing where the battle had just finished.

"Trunks!" She called out, landing as quickly as she could and stumbling a bit as she ran over to the teenaged boy. He seemed to be in a state of shock before turning his head to look at Tsukimi with a surprised expression. "Tsukimi? What are you-" He was cut off when he felt Tsukimi quickly wrap her arms around him, holding him tightly.

"You're not dead… Thank God you're alive…" Trunks only looked down at the girl, he could feel her heart racing through her skin, her body was trembling mildly and could also feel tears coming from her eyes.

_"This ordeal has been such a burden on her…"_ Narrowing his eyes slightly, Trunks placed one of his arms back around Tsukimi while his free hand petted her head in a comforting manner. "It's alright Tsukimi. Everything's going to be alright." He tried to speak in a comforting tone but he knew that things had only just gotten a lot worse.

"Thank god…" Was all he heard Tsukimi say before feeling her knees give out and caught the girl in his arms before she could fall to the ground. Looking down at her face, he could see that she wasn't well. The lack of sleep was taking its toll on her but he couldn't understand why she was having so much trouble. Why this problem was plaguing her.

"I'm sorry to put you through all this, Tsukimi." He spoke softly, only to turn around when he saw Kasumi and Kimiko running over.

"Hey! Thank god she's alright. Nice job quieting her down, Trunks." Kasumi said with a small grin as she walked over.

"Is everything alright Trunks? You look a little pale." Kimiko spoke up next, making Trunks grit his teeth slightly.

"He's surpassed me completely. There's no way I can beat him as i am now. He's issued a fighting tournament, he wants all of the world's strongest fighters to face off against him. And if no one defeats him, he will destroy the world just for the fun of it. The tournament begins in ten days from now." 

* * *

_Okay I'm happier with how this chapter came out and this story is starting to near the end! But don't worry, I have plenty more planned! But thank you for reading, and please review if you liked it and please take the character poll on my profile! ^^_


	28. Chapter 27

By this time, Kasumi, Kimiko, and the rest of the group had arrived back at Capsule Corp, along with Trunks, Krillin, and an injured Android 16.

"Hopefully she can get some rest." Kasumi breathed out a sigh, setting Tsukimi down on a couch while hearing Trunks explain the premise of the Cell games to the rest of the group who had arrived shortly before.

"There has to be something we can do to help her. I just wish I knew what." Kimiko let out a sigh of her own, picking up the cup of tea that was sitting in front of her.

"We have no way of knowing for sure. As I said before, physical and psychological wounds are two completely different matters. There may be nothing that we can do for her now except try to help her get the rest that she needs. Otherwise, she will be useless when we need her help the most." Akihiko spoke simply while looking out a nearby window, his mind firmly on what kind of progress Yuuki had to be making in his own training.

"I had never seen her look so… hopeless before. The Tsukimi I know is the type of person who would never give up in the face of danger, no matter how much the scales were tipped against her. But seeing her like that…" Kimiko trailed off, looking straight into her tea cup before feeling Kasumi place her hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, she's gonna be alright. This is Tsukimi we're talking about, there's no way something like this can take her down." The tanned girl finished with her own confident smile, making Kimiko smile softly in return.

"You're right. I'm just worried for nothing." Kimiko smiled softly, but even though she said that, she honestly wasn't completely sure. Things seemed to be getting more dire as time went on. And she was only becoming more aware of how out-classed she already was from the rest of her friends as well as her enemies.

Her strength wasn't enough to protect her friends, she felt that all it could do at this point, was send them to their early graves…

Akihiko could plainly see the look of concern on Kimiko's face. All of this had to be troubling to her, she had never once had to fight her own battles before, she was always the one being protected, not the one doing the protecting.

Taking his Hero License out of his pocket, Akihiko remembered the promise that he made Kimiko agree to shortly before they came to the past. That she would escape back to their own time line if things got to be too dangerous for her to handle.

Breathing out a sigh, he only hoped that she would follow through with her promise…

Taking a small look to the other side of the room, Akihiko could plainly see how concerned Hotaru was for his cousin. Of course he was concerned as well, but learned at a young age that letting your emotions guide your actions could only lead to trouble.

"I don't get it. Why isn't he waking up?" Hotaru was standing at Satoshi's bed side, clenching her fists in sheer frustration and helplessness. There was nothing more that she could do for him, and he had only gotten hurt because of hr own stubbornness.

"Hotaru. Satoshi will be alright, you need to stop doing this to yourself, placing all of this guilt on your shoulders." Hotaru turned around and looked at Akihiko with a slight glare. "You don't get it! This was my fault! If only I had listened to him then maybe… he wouldn't have…" Hotaru bit her lip, turning away as a couple of small tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

"This was not your fault, Hotaru. Satoshi knew what he was doing. Blaming yourself isn't going to make him wake up any faster. All we can do now, is wait for him to wake up. He is a fighter, something like this won't be the end of him." Akihiko spoke in a more comforting tone, making Hotaru wipe the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.

"I hope you're right…" Hotaru's gaze trailed back to the unconscious boy, just seeing him lying on the bed, not moving, not responding. It made her clench her fists slightly. She hated feeling helpless like this, there wasn't anything that she could do for him now. And if he were to die then… She wouldn't know what to do with herself.

Kasumi could see how much the brunette was worrying about Satoshi, this was partly her fault, she knew that full-well. Breathing out a sigh, Kasumi placed a hand on Hotaru's shoulder. 'Hey, we're heading to the lookout to see if Yuuki's come out yet. You should come with us."

"And why should I? It doesn't matter if I go with you or not. Besides.. I want to be here if he wakes up." Hotaru replied in a simple tone, not taking her eyes off of Satoshi.

"Girl, you're running yourself ragged over this, no boy is worth you worrying to death over. Besides, you need to take your mind off him at least for a little bit." Hotaru was unwavering, and just shook her head slightly. "No, I'm staying here in case he wakes up."

"You should go with them, Hotaru." Gerome suddenly spoke up as he walked over, placing a hand on Satoshi's bedside. "I will be here to watch over him, there is nothing for you to worry about." Breathing out a sigh, Hotaru knew that they wouldn't let up until she agreed to what they said and nodded slightly. "Fine, let's get going then." The brunette finally agreed, turning away from Satoshi's bed but couldn't stop that feeling of anxiety within her heart about his well-being.

"Come on guys, we gotta get going. You sure you got things handled here, Gerome?" Kasumi asked the bio-android, only receiving a small nod. "Yes, I have things handled. Don't worry." Gerome replied simply with his arms crossed, only watching as Kasumi, Akihiko, Hotaru, Mamoru, and Kasumi went out the door and swiftly flew off.

Looking around the room, Gerome's eyes landed on Android 13, who was in the process of being healed and repaired from his own injuries. He still couldn't understand how he let Kimiko convince him to bring him back with him. As far as he knew, Android 13 was nothing but a ruthless warrior who will even stoop to low-down tactics to earn himself a victory.

But without Androids 14 and 15, there was no chance for 13 to be able to reach his more powerful form. "What good could he do here now?" Was the only thought that went through Gerome's mind as he looked at the blonde android. He could plainly feel how powerful Cell was, and Android 13 would surely be no match for him as he currently was.

As Cell was right now, none of the group could be any sort of match for him. Gerome could feel that clearly. but thinking about Cell's perfect form brought up some old questions in Gerome's mind.

More specifically- if he had his own Perfect form. And if he did, how would he go about obtaining it? Would he have to embark on the same path Cell took in his pursuit of power? Hurting hundreds of thousands of innocent people?

Shaking his head a couple of times, Gerome tried to get those thoughts out of his mind. Now wasn't the time to be wondering about 'what ifs'. Even if he did have a perfect form of his own, there was no way that he could obtain it in less than ten days from now.

_"There has to be something we can do to tip the scales in our favor. But what?"_

* * *

"Currently we have two problems that could cost us the Cell games. The first is if Tsukimi's sleeping problems persist. She will be unfit to fight in these games and if she tries, it is likely that her mental state may deteriorate. In short, she will succumb to her fears and go insane. We have to find a way to get her to stop having these nightmares that continue to plague her." Akihiko continued to fly towards Kami's lookout with the rest of the group following close behind him.

"We know that but the question is- how do we help her? None of us are therapists. And even if we were, there's no guarantee we can get her to quit having those nightmares by the Cell games. But we can't fight in them without her, she's the only one out of all of us who's gotten to super saiyan so far." Kasumi sighed, rubbing her forehead with her hand.

"But that's assuming that Yuuki hasn't already reached super saiyan himself. If he has, then we have a better chance of defeating Cell." Kimiko spoke up, only to earn a scoff from Kasumi. "I know this is gonna make me sound like a bitch, but I'm not really expecting Yuuki of all people to make it to super saiyan. He was never much of a fighter to begin with. I mean if he does, that would be awesome but I just don't have my hopes up is all."

"Would it kill you to have even a little bit of faith in your friends, Kasumi? I mean, none of us have made it to super saiyan but at least Yuuki is trying to get to that level." Mamoru said with an exasperated sigh.

"Please, it's not like none of y'all are thinking the same thing. Yuuki was never much of a fighter so don't be bummed when you see that he hasn't reached that level. But we're getting off-topic here. There has to be some way of getting Tsukimi to stop having nightmares. Sadly I don't have any ideas." Kasumi replied with a sigh of her own.

"Maybe Yuuki might have an idea? I mean, Yuuki's known Tsukimi longer than any of us have. He may know what to do." Kimiko suggested before Akihiko spoke up once more.

"If he does, then that will be of great help to us. but our second problem is Satoshi's current condition. If he doesn't wake up in time for the Cell games, there is no way he will be of any help to us. I am not fearing for his life but we need as much help as we can get right now." Akihiko's eyes narrowed slightly. He hadn't gotten any stronger since coming to the past, and things were getting to be more dire.

There had to be a way to give them the advantage but his mind was currently drawing blanks.

The moment the kids all land on Kami's lookout, they are surprised to see that Goku, Gohan, and Yuuki had all emerged from the time chamber, but the surprising fact was that while Goku and Gohan were in their super saiyan forms. Yuuki wasn't.

"Hey Yuuki!" Mamoru called out, going over to the boy and look around him a bit. "How come you're not a super saiyan like Goku and Gohan?" The long-haired boy asked, only to blink when he saw yuuki clenching his fists tightly and his eyes trail to the floor.

"…I couldn't make it to super saiyan." Yuuki admitted through gritted teeth. "I trained as hard as they did, maybe twice as hard, for a whole year! But I just couldn't get the hang of it!"

Yuuki squeezed his eyes shut, keeping his fists clenched at his side. He just felt completely ashamed. His friends lived depended on this! He needed to get the hang of this form, but he had completely failed…

"I'm sorry… I just couldn't get it." Yuuki spoke once more, only to look up when he saw Kimiko place her hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, Yuuki. You don't have to be sorry. You did everything that you could, you should be proud. Besides, none of us have reached super saiyan except for Tsukimi and we aren't worried at all." Kimiko told him, wearing a small smile on her face.

"You're right, but still.. I don't know why I couldn't get the hang of it. It just felt like I had hit a wall, that something was stopping me from reaching super saiyan. I just don't know what." The boy sighed once more before looking around at the group. "Hey, how come Tsukimi isn't here? Where is she?"

That made the other kids look away, no one really wanted to let him know what had happened. "She is back at capsule corp. Resting…" Kimiko started off, trying to avoid eye contact for the moment.

"Resting? Did she hurt herself, fighting against Cell?" Yuuki questioned again before seeing Kasumi walk over to him and place a hand on his shoulder. "Look, none of us wanted to tell you this but Tsukimi… We don't think she'll be able to help us anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Yuuki asked, now growing uneasy the longer he was away from the long-haired girl.

"The nightmares she's been having have only gotten worse. We assume that she hadn't slept at all since going into the time chamber. That she could have easily gone over a year running on fumes. And is now completely exhausted, physically, and mentally." Kimiko continued, though it was clear that she didn't want to tell Yuuki everything.

"But she'll be alright if she just gets some sleep right? Is she alright?" Yuuki asked, only making Kimiko bite her lip slightly. "…No she isn't. I saw a side of her I had never seen before… She was terrified. Like as if she had completely give up on life itself. All she said when I met her was 'We're all going to die.'." The moment Kimiko said that, Yuuki's eyes widened as the vision he had before invaded his mind once more.

Tsukimi completely broken down, tears trailing from her bloodshot eyes, her body trembling and only muttering that they were all doomed to die… It was all coming true.

"Yuuki! Wait!" Mamoru called out, already seeing Yuuki fly off as quickly as he could to capsule corp. His heart racing in his chest out of sheer fear for what state he would find Tsukimi in.

_"She has to be alright, she just has to be!"_

Tsukimi was his rock, she was the one he could always rely on when things got tough. She was the type to never run from a challenge or show fear in the face of an enemy.

If she were to break… Yuuki wasn't sure what he would be able to do without her.

The moment Yuuki saw Capsule Corp, he quickly landed and ran into the house as fast as he could. "Yuuki? Oh it's… Oh my, I wonder what the rush is for?" Mrs. Briefs was watering one of her plants when she saw Yuuki simply rush past her and upstairs.

The moment Yuuki found Tsukimi's room, he quickly opened the door and panted softly, trying to catch his breath when he saw Tsukimi, lying in a bed and breathed a small sigh of relief. "Thank God… She's okay…"

Taking a few steps closer to the girl, Yuuki looked down and saw that she was already shifting in her sleep. Her expression becoming more fearful and her skin already covered with a thin layer of sweat.

"Tsukimi…" Yuuki gently leaned down to brush some of Tsukimi's bangs out of her eyes, only to see that tears were already slowly streaming from her eyes.

Yuuki couldn't help but clench his fists tightly, just seeing Tsukimi in pain like this was tearing at his heart. He wanted to help her, to make her pain go away, but he just didn't know what to do.

"I'm sorry Tsukimi… I wish I could help you. I want to make this pain you're feeling stop but I don't know what to do.." Yuuki spoke, a couple of small tears working into his eyes as well.

Reaching into his armored vest, he pulled out the red hair ribbon Tsukimi had given him before going into the time chamber, the color faded slightly and the edges were slightly worn.

"I wish I knew what to do…" Yuuki could only look down at Tsukimi sleeping and suffering from another nightmare. Looking down at her sleeping form, it suddenly came to him!

"Wait a second…" Thinking back to when they were younger, Yuuki remembered when he and Tsukimi had slept over at his house.  
_"You have a teddy bear?" Yuuki was looking at the white teddy bear Tsukimi had pulled out of her backpack._

_"Yeah.. Don't laugh okay? But my Dad gave me this teddy bear when I was a little girl. I used to have nightmares all the time but when I sleep with this teddy bear, I don't have nightmares anymore. Now I can't sleep without it or the nightmares would come back."_

"This might be a long shot." Yuuki reached into his pocket, pulling out his reflective Hero License. He knew that time travel was dangerous, and that Trunks himself said that there was no way of knowing what kinds of effects his presence would have on the time line.

But he had to try. If he could just go home and get Tsukimi's teddy bear for her, maybe it would stop her nightmares and she could finally get some much-needed rest.

"Don't worry Tsukimi, I'm going to help you. No matter what it takes." Yuuki spoke softly, gently wiping the tears from Tsukimi's eyes as he got up and walked out of the room.

* * *

"Hey! Gerome!" Hotaru had just arrived back at Capsule corp with the others, and the only concern on her mind was if Satoshi had woken up or not. "Has Satoshi gotten any better?"

Gerome shook his head slightly and was standing at the boy's bed side. "No, he still hasn't gotten up."

"Oh.. I see…" Hotaru clenched one of her fists, just the fact that he seemed to not show any signs of waking up at all was just making her nearly go crazy with concern. What if he never woke up?

"You know, I still find it hard to believe that someone like him exists." Hotaru was only snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Gerome speak up again as he looked down at Satoshi, lying in the bed.

"Someone with a truly endless reserve of kindness. He was always smiling, and seemed to always look on the bright side of things. He just gave off this sort of radiance. And made me feel that everything was going to be alright. It still surprises me that he chose to activate me again." That was the moment Gerome would never forget for all of his life. the kindness that Satoshi had shown him, his first taste of kindness, he would hold in his heart for the rest of his life.

_"You wanna come live with us then, Gerome?"_

His words still resonated within Gerome's mind, he knew that he really couldn't go to live with Satoshi and Hotaru but the offer was kind enough.

"I know how you feel. Satoshi's helped me more than I can even thank him for. He saved me from my old life, and even now, still shows kindness to me. He is my light, I just don't know what I would do if I were to lose him…" Just the thought alone was enough to make Hotaru start tearing up.

The moment Cell impaled Satoshi through his stomach would be burned into her memory for the rest of her life. And every time she thought of it, the familiar pain of loss would stab into her chest once again.

"He will be alright." Gerome spoke up, placing one of his hands on Hotaru's shoulder. "An android cannot die so easily. I will continue to keep an eye on him, try not to let your guilt overtake you." Hotaru wiped her eyes a little bit, nodding at what Gerome had said.

"Thank you, Gerome. And when all of this is over, you're more than welcome to come stay with us if you want." Hotaru said with a small smile before turning around to walk away. It was comforting to know that someone was watching over Satoshi for her.

But that didn't stop her from worry about Satoshi's well-being…

* * *

"I think I know how to help Tsukimi get some rest and stop her nightmares." Yuuki was standing in front of the rest of his friends as they all returned to capsule corporation.

"I remembered when we were kids, Tsukimi told me that she used to have nightmares all the time. And that they only stop when she sleeps with a teddy bear that her dad gave her. So I was thinking that if I went back home and got the teddy bear, then she'd be able to get a good night's sleep." Yuuki said, only for Kasumi to chuckle a bit.

"Really? That's a bit of a long shot though, Even if you do get the bear and bring it back there's no guarantee that it'll stop her nightmares."

"And then there is the fact that time travel can be tricky, if you leave for even an hour or so, there is no way of telling how much time will have passed on our end. It could be a day a minute, or even a year. So this will be quite a risk you're taking." Akihiko spoke up.

"I don't care how risky it is. I can't stand to see Tsukimi in pain like this, and at least this way… I can do something to help her." Yuuki said, the sting of knowing that he couldn't get to Super saiyan was still fresh in his mind.

"If you feel that you must do this, then go ahead. But please try to be careful, get back here as quickly as you can. The passage of time between our two time lines cannot be determined. There is no telling how much time will pass between our home time line and this one." Akihiko said before being elbowed by Kasumi. "Dude! Speak English! All I hear is Nerd-enese!"

"I'll be careful, but you guys keep an eye on Tsukimi, don't let her push herself too hard if she wants to train. I'll be back as fast as I can." Yuuki said while taking out his Hero License.

Taking a small breath, Yuuki pressed the silver button on the back of the card and closed his eyes. "Alright, now to get to Tsukimi's house and get… the… bear…?" Opening his eyes again, Yuuki's eyes widened at what he was looking at.

All around him, there was nothing but destruction, no one was in the streets, buildings were mere crumbled remains of their former selves, the sky was a dark gray color though there were no clouds at all.

And all around him, he could smell nothing but the scent of gun power and blood.

"W-What's going on…?"

* * *

_Oooh! Plot twist! X3 The next chapter is gonna be a lot of fun to write and I hope you all are looking forward to it! ^^_


	29. Chapter 28

"W-What the hell is going on here?" Yuuki's eyes were wide as he looked around the ruins of what used to be his home town.

The smell of gunpowder and blood hung heavily in the air. Nothing looked the same to Yuuki. Buildings were destroyed, there were no people in the streets at all. And looking up for a moment, Yuuki spotted what appeared to be a set of three androids.

All three looked similar to Android 19, except with strange green armor on them and a more purple skin-tone.

"Just what the hell happened?" Yuuki continued to look around, walking on the remains of a sidewalk as he pulled his Hero License out of his pocket. "It says I'm in the right place but this can't be right… This can't be my home."

_"Saiyan presence detected."_ Looking up, Yuuki's eyes widened when he saw the three androids look at him with glowing red eyes before firing energy blasts from their palms straight at him.

_"What the hell is going on here?!"_ Yuuki tried to avoid the blasts as fast as he could, but he could tell that he was running nowhere as fast as he could during his time in the past. And that he was already becoming out of breath when something like this wouldn't tire him at all!

After avoiding another blast, Yuuki quickly dove into a nearby alley, carefully waiting until he saw the three Androids fly away from the area and breathed out a sigh as he came out from behind two trash cans.

"Something is wrong here. What the hell are those androids?! And what the hell is going on here?!" Yuuki was panting softly, trying to catch his breath. "And why.. am I so tired? Just from running?" He panted, taking a small glance behind him and his eyes widened when he saw that his tail was gone.

"W-Where did my tail go?!" He exclaimed, trying to look behind himself but it seemed that rather than being blown off, his tail had simply vanished. As if it was never there in the first place.

Carefully coming out of the alley, Yuuki's eyes carefully scanned the area, making sure that there were no androids around but only saw three of them in different areas. One above what appeared to be the remains of a shopping mall. One on the end of a sidewalk, looking around, and a third was right in the middle of the road.

_"What the hell is going on here?! What happened?!"_ When Yuuki was trying to figure out just what could have changed to make his home turn out like this, his eyes widened when he realized something.

"Mom! Isamu!" Diving deeper into the alley, Yuuki started running from behind a few buildings. Right now, he just had to know if his mother and older brother were alright.

But he couldn't understand what was going on. Why were there androids all around? Where were the rest of the people? Why did everything look similar to Trunks' own hellish time line when they never had to deal with anything like Cell or Majin Buu?! It just didn't make sense!

_"Please be alright! You both have to be alright!"_ Yuuki continued to run as fast as he could, being careful to avoid running into more of the androids. The moment he saw his neighborhood come into view, his eyes widened in sheer horror. His running slowed to a slow walk before falling to his knees in front of where his house used to be.

The house was in nothing but shambles. Completely destroyed, and he saw no sign of either his brother or his mother anywhere. "M-Mom…? Isamu…?" He managed to speak, a few tears working into the boy's eyes before he quickly got up and started trying to shift through the rubble.

"Mom! Isamu!" He yelled, throwing board and pieces of drywall over his shoulder. He just had to know if his family was alright.

"I-I've already lost Dad! I can't lose you two too!" He yelled, only to stop when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, Yuuki's eyes widened when he saw Tsukimi's mother, Aika, standing behind him.

"Yuuki… It's alright. I think I know why you're here." Yuuki could plainly see that she wasn't doing well. She had large bags under her eyes, her previously long and flowing black hair had been cut short to her chin, and had bandages wrapped around her right arm.

"M-Mrs. Masami… Please! Tell me that my family is alright! Tell me what's going on here!" Yuuki pleaded before quickly being hugged to the woman's body as she dove behind a large pile of rubble.

"Shh.. I can't explain everything right now." Aika spoke softly, looking cautiously at the androids as their glowing eyes scanned the area around them.

The woman kept Yuuki's face pressed against her chest, stopping him from making a sound. Only when she saw the androids fly away did she breath a relieved sigh and release Yuuki from her tight grasp.

Yuuki's face was bright red, his eyes slightly wide at what he had just experienced. "S-Soft…"

"Listen, I'm not sure why you're here but if you're here, Yuuki. Then you have to have some reason. It isn't safe to be here anymore." Yuuki's eyes widened when he remembered what he had come for. "Tsukimi's teddy bear!"

"Huh?" Aika looked at the boy with a confused look before seeing him rushing towards her already war-torn house. "Yuuki! Wait!"

But Yuuki wasn't listening, he quickly ran into the house and up the stairs before kicking the door open to Tsukimi's room. Looking around quickly, he spotted the leg of the bear sticking out from under Tsukimi's bed and smiled. "I got it! Now to get out of here!"

But the joy was short lived, looking to his left, Yuuki's eyes widened when he saw the androids return, crashing through the wall. _"Saiyan presence detected."_ Was all their monotone voices spoke before starting to charge energy balls in the palms of their hands.

Yuuki's eyes were still wide in shock, like a deer caught in a set of headlights, all he could do was watch.

"Yuuki!" He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Aika run into the room and delivered a harsh kick to one of the androids, sending it slamming against another and straight out of the hole they entered from.

"M-Mrs. Minami…" Yuuki was still in a mild state of shock, his mind trying to process everything that had just happened since he arrived back.

"Hurry up and go! They're going to send more, you have to get out of here now, Yuuki!" Aka yelled back at the boy before jumping out of the hole and drop-kicking another android straight in the head.

Yuuki only looked down at the woman for a little bit before nodding and starting to run away from the house with the teddy bear clenched in his hands. _"I have a mission to do! Maybe if I get this back to Tsukimi, it'll change things back to normal! I just have to get back to the arcade as fast as I can!"_

Yuuki continued to run as quickly as he could, not daring to look back at the fight Tsukimi's mother was currently fighting. He knew that if he looked back now, he wouldn't resist the urge to help her.  
Everything that was wrong with his time line, he hoped could be fixed. He still had a mission to do, and he had to get back to his friends as fast as he possibly could.

"The arcade just has to still be here!" Yuuki continued to run, only running faster when he realized that two of the androids were following closely after him. "Damn it! Come on!" Yuuki jumped to avoid one of the android's blasts but was already feeling himself getting tired from the running.

"The arcade should be around here!" Yuuki turned a street corner, only for his eyes to widen when he saw that the arcade was in nothing but shambles. "W-Wha…?" After losing his focus, Yuuki tripped and fell onto the hard sidewalk, only to look back with wide eyes when he saw the androids heading towards him, charging energy balls in their hands.

_"I-I can't fight back!"_ Yuuki tried to fire an energy blast of his own but his eyes widened when he saw that his power wasn't working. It was as if his power was sucked straight out of his body the moment he stepped into this time line.

"Take this you mechanical sons of bitches!" Looking up, Yuuki's eyes widened when he saw what looked like Kimiko's grandfather, Hiroki, jump down from a rooftop, holding what looked like a grenade in his hand. Pulling the tab out with his teeth, he threw the bomb straight at the androids and swiftly pulled what looked like a laser gun out of his coat pocket and fired it into the air, making a strange light blue portal of sorts.

Before Yuuki could ask what was going on, he found himself being picked up by the older man as he ran into the portal and the moment he stepped out, was inside what remained of Kimiko's mansion.

"W-What's going on? You're Kimiko's grandpa right?" Yuuki managed to ask when he was put down, still in a small state of shock.

"Look, I know you probably have a lot of questions about what's going on here but you have to go back to whatever time line you and Kimiko left for." The older man spoke quickly as he dragged Yuuki to another room at the end of the hallway, revealing a perfectly working Arcade machine, the exact one Yuuki needed!

"Wait! Please tell me what's going on here! Everything's different, those androids, my family, and Tsukimi's, tell me what's going on!" Yuuki said in a determined tone, he wanted to at least know what was going on so he would know how to prevent it from occurring.

Taking a drink from the metal flask in his lab coat, Hiroki breathed out a sigh as he leaned against the machine. "When you and Kimiko and the rest of your friends left for another time line, you all never came back." He spoke simply, looking down at the machine.

"Wait.. but how do you know about time travel and what's with that portal gun you had? And that bomb too.." Yuuki had so many questions in his mind but nowhere near enough answers.

"Look, I'm just gonna tell you this once, kid. I'm a genius. I'm a scientist, I build robots for fun, something like a multidimensional portal gun and a flash grenade is nothing special. To tell you the truth, I've been through shit like this more times than I can count. All I know now is that I have to get you back to that other time line, that will fix everything that went wrong here, and reversed it to where it never happens." Hiroki took another drink from his flask as he finishes.

"But what's going on here? Who created those androids?" Yuuki asked once more, walking towards the machine.

"Maybe if you let me answer one question before asking another, you'd get your answer. Now shut up and listen. When you kids didn't come back to this time line, it effected the course of history here. The Red Ribbon Army reformed here, and under their new boss' rule, they took their revenge on the planet. They started exterminating everyone who wasn't a pure-blooded human being on this planet. And saiyans were on the top of their list. Those androids they created were just their watch dogs, the real bastards responsible for all of this are opponents that you can't hope to fight against as you are now." Hiroki finished explaining. Yuuki was clenching the teddy bear in his hands softly.

"But wait, if the leaders of the Red Ribbon Army exist here, then does that mean they exist in our normal time line?"

"In short, they do. But I'm not going to give you specifics. You'll meet them when the time is right. If you kids try anything right now, you'll just get yourselves killed and history will repeat itself. For now, just get back to that other time line, and all of this will be erased." Hiroki finished while taking a step back from the machine.

"I see… Thank you for this, Sir. But I have one more question. How could you have been through stuff like this before if this is the first time something like this has happened?" Yuuki asked in a confused tone.

"Kid, I'm an old man. I've seen a lot of things, and with the things I've done, I've already lived out countless lifetimes, I've been through scenarios like this before. But do me one favor when you go back there, Kid; Don't tell the others what you saw here. This whole future, keep it a secret. All it'll do is worry them, and there's no use worrying over something that won't exist in a few minutes anyway." The older man took another drink from his flask when he finished.

"Right. But what will happen to you and everyone else?" Yuuki asked, taking his Hero License out of his pocket.

"Things will revert back to the way they used to be. This time line will cease to exist and be erased from recorded history. And things will go back to the way they were before you kids left. So don't worry about it. Your mom and brother will be waiting for you when you come back." Yuuki smiled slightly, he was relieved to know that everything was going to work out in the end.

"Thanks again for your help."

"Yeah yeah, now get the hell out of here already, you're wasting time here, Kid. One more thing though. Try to keep my grand daughter safe. She isn't much of a fighter, why she agreed to this I'll never know." Hiroki sighed, hitting his forehead with his palm.

"Right, don't worry. We're all gonna come back safely." With that said, Yuuki kept the Teddy bear in his hand close to him as he slipped his Hero License into the machine. And the moment he opened his eyes again, he breathed out a relieved sigh when he found himself outside of Capsule corp.

_"Thank God… Everything's normal again."_

* * *

_Yeah short chapter I know, and I felt that I could've done better with the pacing but oh well, I'm pretty satisfied with how this chapter turned out anyway and I hope that you like it too! We're getting close to the end people so keep reading! ^^_


	30. Chapter 29

Hotaru was sitting at Satoshi's bedside. Her ice blue eyes not trailing away from the unconscious boy for a minute. She could see his chest slowly heaving as be slept, the color had completely returned to his face as well.

The only issue was that he has yet to wake up. No matter how much Hotaru thought about it, she just couldn't find a reason why Satoshi hadn't woken up yet. If his body was perfectly healthy, he should have woken up by now, right?

"Satoshi…" Hotaru gently reached down, placing her hand over Satoshi's and grasped it lightly. "Please wake up soon… I don't like being left all alone again…" Her tone was soft, almost a whisper just for him to hear.

Looking out the window, Hotaru could see that the sun had already set for the evening, the present moon already hanging over the sky along with the plethora of stars that glittered the night sky.

The darkness felt all too familiar to her. Many times she had looked up at that night sky, and sleep under it as well. The grasp she had on Satoshi's hand tightened slightly before abruptly pulling it away.

Looking down at her palm, Hotaru glared at the red energy-sapping node that was embedded in both of her hands. She couldn't even hold Satoshi's hand without that little node sucking the energy from Satoshi's body.

"All I seem to do is hurt him.." Hotaru's fists balled at her sides, so far, she had been able to do nothing to help Satoshi. She still felt that his injury was her fault, he had gotten hurt while defending her.

"I can't even help him now! Damn it!" Hotaru growled, mostly at herself while looking down at the bed Satoshi was lying in.

"Hotaru? It's getting late, shouldn't you think about getting to sleep?" Hotaru looked over her shoulder, seeing that Kimiko was standing in the doorway.

"I'm fine, I'm not going to take my eyes off of Satoshi… Not until I know he'll wake up." Hotaru turned her attention back to the unconscious boy.

"Well… Okay, try to get some sleep though. Good night." Kimiko finished with an uncertain tone as she left to give the two some privacy.

_"I don't need to sleep. I'm an android now, we don't have any need to sleep. We don't need to breath, or even eat."_ Hotaru looked down at her hands when that thought crossed her mind.

She had always been a pale girl, but now her skin tone was simply white, yet strangely, not pale enough that her veins could show through. If she still had veins that is.

Her eyes then went back to Satoshi, he didn't look like he had changed at all. His skin was still the same shade it always was, his aquamarine eyes were the same beautiful shade they were before. If she didn't know any better, Hotaru would believe that he was the same as he ever was.

Looking a bit more closely at Satoshi's chest, Hotaru gently leaned in and picked up the golden locket that he had around his neck. This was the one thing that he would always keep with him, no matter what happened. It was his prized possession.

Opening the clasp, Hotaru looked inside at the picture of Satoshi's parents. His father had long black hair styled into a low ponytail and was a fairly good-looking man, while his mother had Satoshi's aquamarine eyes. The both of them giving off that same warm aura, that air of kindness that Satoshi possessed.

From what she knew, Satoshi's parents had died a few years ago, she didn't know the details and knew that his parents were a touchy subject for Satoshi. Even if she were to try bringing them up, she always felt like she had just ripped the scab off an old wound.

And she never knew what to say to make him feel better because she didn't know what it was like to lose your parents. She never even knew what it was like to have parents.

Gently placing the locket back on Satoshi's chest after closing it, Hotaru closed her eyes and kept her hand on Satoshi's chest, careful that the node on her palm was only touching the boy's locket.

_"Please come back Satoshi… I can't be left alone again. I can't go back to my old life now, I don't want to be left alone ever again and you're the only one whose ever cared about me…"_

"Hey. What are you crying for, Hotaru?" The moment his voice rung in her ears, Hotaru's eyes snapped awake, only to be flooded with tears when she saw Satoshi's eyes open, the boy giving her a friendly smile.

Biting her lip, Hotaru quickly wrapped her arms around Satoshi once he sat up, keeping herself close to him. "You idiot! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" She yelled through her tears, her tears already soaking through Satoshi's black shirt.

Satoshi could only smile softly, gently petting the brunette's head. "I know, I'm sorry Hotaru. The last thing I wanted was to make you sick with worry."

After a few moments, Hotaru pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes free from the tears. "When we get home, you owe me dinner, don't forget that." Hotaru could only blush when she heard Satoshi chuckling behind her.

"Don't worry, I won't. But while I was out, I could hear everything that was going on around me. Even though I couldn't move, I could tell what was going on so you don't have to worry about explaining what's happened." Satoshi briefly explained as he sat up in his bed, rubbing his head a little bit.

"Well that'll explain me a good hour. I guess you already know that Cell is in his perfect form. And that we aren't any sort of a match for him as we are right now." Hotaru breathed out a sigh, making sure that no stray tears were in her eyes.

"Yeah, I know. And as androids, there isn't much room for improvement. I don't think I can get any stronger than I am right now, and neither can you. But that doesn't mean that we're going to lose." Satoshi finished while looking down at the hole in his shirt.

"What do you mean? Cell completely towers over us in strength, there's no way that we can beat him as we are." Hotaru looked at the boy with a confused look. Only to meet with a confident smile from Satoshi.

"But we're not alone here. We have friends who are gonna help us, and with all of our powers combined, I'm sure that'll be more than enough to finish Cell off."

"Well right now I don't know how much of a help Tsukimi is going to be. Her nightmares are messing up her mind, and Yuuki already left for our home time line to get something to help her. I wasn't listening too carefully but since it's been more than a day since he left, I'm not sure if we can really count on him coming back at this point." Hotaru finished, placing a lock of her auburn hair behind her ear.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that. I'm pretty sure that Yuuki will be coming back soon. But in the mean time, we can't just sit around and wait." Satoshi started while getting up from the bed and stretching a couple of times. "Man! I got stiff as hell while I was out. Like I got hit by a truck or something. I gotta get moving but first, I think I'm gonna need to get my shirts fixed. I can't walk around with giant holes in my shirts." The blue-eyed boy said while promptly starting to strip his shirts off, causing a bright blush to stain Hotaru's pale cheeks.

"C-Couldn't you wait to do that until I left the room?" She mumbled while trying to keep her eyes from trailing back to the shirtless boy.

"How come? It's not like I'm getting completely naked or anything." Satoshi replied with the same happy smile Hotaru recognized so well.

"Still the same idiot you always were. I'll see what I can do about these, you just go.. I don't know, take a shower or something." Hotaru sighed, picking up Satoshi's shirts while trying to hide the blush that was staining her face.

"Huh, I guess I could use one. After that, I really need to get some training done though. I think I got a little rusty since I was knocked out." Satoshi continued while walking into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

"Just leave your clothes on the counter and I'll wash them for you. But don't try to push yourself too hard when you're training." Hotaru finished when she heard the shower running and briefly stepped into the bathroom to pick up the boy's clothes.

"Don't worry, I won't. But thanks Hotaru. Even though I was out, I knew for a fact that you were by my side the whole time." Upon hearing that, Hotaru's blush turned a shade darker as she let her back rest against the bathroom door.

"Sure… No problem…"

She honestly wasn't sure what else to say and just continued to clench the clothes that were in her hands, her heart already pounding in her chest.

_"He's still as much of an idiot as he ever was… But I've never been so happy."_

* * *

"Oh good, it looks like everything is normal." Yuuki breathed out a relieved sigh when he found himself back at the entrance of Capsule Corp.

His attention was immediately drawn to the back yard when he heard what sounded like sparring going on. Running to the back, Yuuki saw that Mamoru was in the process of sparring with Akihiko. The long haired boy running towards his friend, delivering a swift punch only to blink when he saw Akihiko grab his punch and flip the boy over his shoulder and onto the ground.

"Damn Akihiko! You don't have to go all out you know." Mamoru said while rubbing his head, only to smile when he saw Yuuki walking over. "Dude! The hell took you so long to get here?"

"Huh? What do you mean took so long? I was just gone for about an hour." Yuuki replied with a confused expression, only for Akihiko to brush himself off and walk over.

"You have been gone for eight days. The Cell games are in two days now. We were beginning to wonder if you were going to come back or not."

"Two days?! There's no way I was gone that long! I mean, it didn't feel like I was gone that long!" Yuuki exclaimed with a surprised expression on his face, he couldn't even imagine that he could have really been gone that long!

"Remember what I told you. The flow of time differs between our time lines, being gone for an hour back home could easily be a few days in this tine line." Akihiko explained once more before glancing at the white bear in Yuuki's arms. "Hopefully your hunch was correct though."

"How is Tsukimi doing though? Has she gotten any better?" Yuuki asked, almost forgetting amidst the chaos that he had just escaped from, the original reason why he was sent back home in the first place.

"Well I think a little bit. But she still looks pretty exhausted, she can't sleep more than an hour or so but we're trying to get her to sleep as much as she can." Mamoru explained before hearing what sounded like someone falling on the ground and turned around to see Tsukimi, completely out on the ground and Kasumi leaning on a tree, looking at her with a devilish smirk.

"Tsukimi! Are you okay?! Say something!" Yuuki rushed over to the passed-out girl as quickly as he could before looking at Kasumi when she spoke up. "Oh please, don't be so dramatic, I didn't kill her. She didn't wanna go to sleep so I slipped a little something into her water bottle." Kasumi replied with a smirk while holding a blue water bottle in her hand.

"Oh… Well that's good. But she shouldn't be sleeping out here. Will you help me carry her inside, Kasumi?" Yuuki looked up at the tanned girl who chuckled once more. "Of course not. You're a man. It's a man's duty to carry the fair princess to her chambers is it not?"

That made Yuuki blush a small pink shade as he looked down at Tsukimi's sleeping form before sighing and picking the girl up in his arms. "Fine, I'll carry her myself. I had something I wanted to give her anyway."

"It better not be a kiss! You can't wake the fair maiden up yet~!" Kasumi called back, making Yuuki blush even a darker shade. "Shut up!"

"Ahh to be so clueless and in love~ He makes it so easy it's almost not fun." Kasumi smirked as Mamoru walked towards her and sighed. "You really don't get tired of making people's lives hell, do you?"

"Nope! As long as it's entertaining, I'll keep it up as long as I want to." The spiky-haired girl smirked back.

Yuuki on the other hand was carrying Tsukimi into a spare bedroom, gently setting her on the bed before seeing her already starting to turn and groan slightly in her expression becoming more fearful, sweat already beginning to come from her skin.

Yuuki then placed the teddy bear in his right hand in Tsukimi's arms gently, and almost immediately, Tsukimi wrapped her arms back around the stuffed animal, her expression calming and her breathing getting easier. Like as if the nightmare was vanishing from her mind.

"I'm glad I was able to do something to help you, Tsukimi." Yuuki said in a soft tone, gently moving some of Tsukimi's bangs away from her face. Her expression was now more peaceful, making Yuuki breath out a relieved sigh. Never before had he felt so relieved to see Tsukimi sleeping soundly.

But in the back of his mind, Yuuki was still concerned about what he had seen back in his own time line. And what Kimiko's grandfather had told him before he left.

_"When you kids didn't come back to this time line, it effected the course of history here. The Red Ribbon Army reformed here, and under their new boss' rule, they took their revenge on the planet. They started exterminating everyone who wasn't a pure-blooded human being on this planet. And saiyans were on the top of their list. Those androids they created were just their watch dogs, the real bastards responsible for all of this are opponents that you can't hope to fight against as you are now."_

"The Red Ribbon Army…" Just the name alone made Yuuki concerned. If something like that could happen when they didn't return. Did that mean they were already reforming in the underground part of the city?

Shaking his head a bit, Yuuki remembered the last thing that Hiroki had told him.

_"Things will revert back to the way they used to be. This time line will cease to exist and be erased from recorded history. And things will go back to the way they were before you kids left. So don't worry about it. Your mom and brother will be waiting for you when you come back."_

He wasn't completely sure if he could believe Hiroki or not. He knew that Kimiko's grandfather was a world-renowned genius and was capable of creating devices most had only dreamed off, but in the bottom of his heart. He had a feeling that wouldn't be the last time he saw the Red Ribbon Army but prayed that it would be.

* * *

In a gravity chamber outside of Capsule Corp, Hotaru was using her special eye beams to shoot down small attacking robots that came after her. Shooting down one after another before simply punching and kicking them down with ease.

Blinking her eyes and rubbing them a couple of times, Hotaru took a small breath as she looked at Satoshi in the middle of his own training. Ever since he had woken up, all he's wanted to do was train. To become stronger for the sake of protecting others.

But with every day that passed, Hotaru became more aware of the impending danger that was looming over them. Satoshi had already nearly died once, and there was a good chance that he could die again during the Cell games.

Which made her start to wonder if she should come clean with Satoshi. To confess her feelings even though she knew for a fact that he didn't feel the same way about her. And that his feelings belonged to Kimiko.

Even if she were to be rejected… She felt that she just had to tell him at least once.

"Hey." The moment Satoshi spoke, Hotaru snapped out of her thoughts and turned her attention towards him.

"Don't worry so much. Things are gonna be fine, Hotaru. We're all gonna go home soon." He said with such a confident tone in his voice. Like as if he truly knew that things were going to work out for the best.

"Do you think we'll be able to go back to the way things were after this?" Hotaru asked, only to meet with a small smile from Satoshi. "Truthfully, I doubt it. But the only direction we have to go in life is forward. And we have to accept every twist and turn along the way because it'll all pay off in the end."

Just hearing that made Hotaru smile softly. Satoshi was always her source of light, and he seemed to always know what to say to make her feel better. _"I have to make sure that he makes it home. Even if I don't."_

"Hey, do you know where Android 13 went off too? I haven't seen him since I woke up." Satoshi said, suddenly remembering that they weren't the only androids in the area.

"I have no idea. He already went off to God-knows-where so I can't say for sure." Hotaru replied with a small shrug while cracking her neck a couple of times.

"Huh. Well I'm sure that won't be the last time we see him. Come on, let's get back to training!" Satoshi grinned as he started charging towards another set of robots.

* * *

Gerome was standing under a large oak tree. Mentally going over everything that had happened so far. The one memory that stuck out from the rest, was one of his first. The offer that Satoshi had given him to live with him and Hotaru back in his world.

_"So what do you say Gerome? Wanna come with us?"_

That was the first time he had ever been given the option to escape the life he had come to known. Being a simple punching bag to test the strength of Dr. Gero's other androids was all he used to think he was good for. But all of that had changed now.

_"Because we want you to be our friend."_

_"Thank you, Gerome. And when all of this is over, you're more than welcome to come stay with us if you want."_

The offers were nice, but even though he had gone through the thought of living with Satoshi and Hotaru in his mind, Gerome knew that he wouldn't find any answers while living with them. He had no place in their world.

But thinking about Cell's different forms, and the way he went about obtaining him just brought a slew of questions into Gerome's mind. Was he originally supposed to be like Cell? And did he have his own perfect form that he's yet to achieve.

_"I have to become stronger. But I'm not going to obtain that strength by hurting others."_ That was the one thing he could never do, Gerome could never take power from innocent people to make into his own.

He knew what it was like to be weak, to be used as a test dummy, to be treated as nothing more than a mere object meant to be thrown away due to his being deemed a failure in the eyes of his creator.

But more than anything, he just wanted to protect the bonds he had already created during his time with the others.

"Gerome? Is everything alright?" Looking ahead, Gerome saw Kimiko walking towards him while wiping some sweat from her brow.

"Yes. I just have a lot on my mind right now, that's all."

"I see, I just needed to take a little break." The short-haired girl sighed while sitting down under the tree, next to Gerome. "You know. I still wonder just how much help I can be during these Cell games. I never truly imagine my life taking this kind of a turn." Kimiko just looked out into the yard, watching Kasumi, Mamoru, and Akihiko training without her.

"My dream of an ideal world would be one without having to resort to violence. Where people don't need to fear for their lives. But I know that's nothing but wishful thinking. I know that I'm not the strongest, and chances are that I'll just get in everyone's way during the Cell games, but something keeps telling me that my presence here is an important one. And even if I can't do much, I will do what I can to make sure that my friends are safe. So we can all live peacefully." Gerome could only look at the soft smile that was on Kimiko's face.

Looking into her eyes, Gerome could plainly see the damage behind them. That she had been through her share of hardships as well.

"You may not be cut out for fighting like this. But I will do what I can to help you, Kimiko." The short-haired girl smiled back at the android upon hearing that. "Thank you Gerome. That really means a lot."

"Kimiko! We have to continue our training!" Looking ahead, Kimiko saw Akihiko calling out to her and smiled as she got up. "Okay! I'll see you later, Gerome." Kimiko smiled at the android before going off, leaving Gerome to smile slightly as he watched her go off.

_"I should be thanking you, Kimiko. I think I may have found one of the answers I was looking for."_

* * *

"Alright, how about we take a break?" Kasumi was panting slightly, already clearly bruised and a little worn out along with her long-haired companion.

"Yeah… That sounds good…" Mamoru was sitting on the ground, trying to catch his breath before catching a water bottle that Kasumi had tossed at him.

"Man.. I don't know if we're ready for this weird tournament." Mamoru sighed while taking a drink from his water bottle. "I really don't want to die."

"Oh come on, the big bag hairy demon of our school is scared of something like an overgrown roach?" Kasumi smirked with a chuckle.

"I'm not scared for myself. I'm just worried about my family. My mom counts on me a lot and so does my little sister, Suki. I have to be there for them. From what my mom told me, My dad walked out on us when I was too young to remember. I want to set a good example for my baby sister when it comes to men. That's why I do most of the cooking and cleaning at home. My mom works really long hours sometimes and isn't home too much. They really rely on me a lot and that's why I can't lose." Mamoru was almost glaring down at his water bottle.

He didn't fear for his life for his own sake, he was worried for the sake of his mother and baby sister.

After hearing that, Kasumi smiled slightly before patting the long-haired boy on the back. "Oh relax you big hairball! Everything's gonna be fine!" The tanned girl said with her own grin.

"And how do you know that for sure?" Mamoru asks before seeing Kasumi hold up the black pendant she often had around her neck. "Because we have the devil's luck on our side." She finished with a smirk.

Her eyes didn't leave the pendant. That was the one thing that brought her comfort in the world. With that pendant around her neck, Kasumi could feel that her mother was still there with her.

_"There's no way we can lose. I'm the daughter of the demon empress! If I lose, there's no way I'll be able to face Mom in heaven. And I can't let that happen! I still want to make you proud, Mom!"_

"Come on you lazy sack of hair, we gotta keep going, there's no way I'm gonna let you keep one win above me!" Kasumi smirked as she got up from her seat and started dragging Mamoru with her by his hair.

"H-Hey! Watch the hair!"

* * *

Carefully closing the door to Tsukimi's room, Yuuki breathed out a relieved sigh. Taking one last look at the peacefully sleeping girl and smiling softly.

_"Finally, she can actually get some rest."_ Just knowing that made Yuuki feel incredibly relieved. Now he was sure that her nightmares would be a thing of the past.

"Now to figure out what to do about Cell." Breathing a small sigh, Yuuki started heading down the hallway until he was approached by Trunks. "Oh Yuuki, It's been a while since I saw you."

"Oh well… A lot happened, let's just leave it that way." Yuuki explained briefly, not really wanting to relive the chaos he had seen during his time gone.

"Well I just came to see how Tsukimi was doing. I'm hoping that her sleeping problems are fixed." Yuuki could see that Trunks looked genuinely concerned about Tsukimi.

And that alone made him a little more wary about the two of them being alone together. They were alone for a whole year, and he had no idea what went on between them in the interim.

"I wouldn't worry about her anymore. Her nightmares are a thing of the past now." Yuuki replied with a more cheerful expression on his face.

"Oh that's a relief. To be honest, I was getting worried about her. During our time in the time chamber, I could see that her nightmares were getting worse. There were times when she refused to sleep, and when she did, it would only last for an hour at the most. She told me that she could see visions, all of us dying in different ways and all in horrifically graphic detail… I can only imagine how hard that must have been on her. But I still can't figure out what's causing them in the first place."

"I don't know either. I know that she used to have nightmares all the time when she was a kid but they were never that bad." Yuuki started thinking aloud, he had overlooked that one little detail- what could have been causing those visions in the first place?

He still didn't have an explanation for the few visions he's seen so far.

"But at least she managed to get more done in the time chamber than me. I never got the hang of being a super saiyan. Even now, when I try to use that form, it just feels like something is stopping me. Like I've hit a wall and can't get through." Yuuki sighed, dejected. He couldn't understand what could be stopping him from using his super saiyan form if Tsukimi was already able to…

"It's alright, I'm sure that even if you didn't reach super saiyan, things are going to work out." Trunks placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, offering him a kind smile, making Yuuki smile slightly in return.

"I guess you're right, thanks Trunks. I'm sure everything will be fine." Yuuki smiled, placing his hand back on Trunks' only for his eyes to widen at what had just flashed before them.

Tsukimi, trapped within a force field along with Cell, stabbing her spirit swords into his nucleus before a large-scale explosion takes place… And Tsukimi is nowhere to be found after..

"Yuuki? Hey, Yuuki? Are you alright?" Trunks tried to shake the boy's shoulder, but his eyes were as wide as saucers at what he had just seen.

_"This can't be… Tsukimi's going to die!"_

* * *

_We're nearing the end here people! Even though I feel like I need to add some more android 13 somewhere and hopefully I will with the next chapter! I hope you're enjoying the story and let me know what you think! ^^_


	31. Chapter 30

_"No…Not again…" Tsukimi could only look on in horror at the sight in front of her. Cell had summoned his offspring, the powerful Cell Jrs._

_All around her, she could hear nothing but the screams of her friends, watching helplessly as one by one, they all succumbed to the strength of the bio-androids._

_"Tsukimi… You have… to run…" Looking at her side, she saw Yuuki weakly trying to hold his hand out to her, only to cry out in pain at a harsh elbow making contact with his spine, the sickening crack ringing in Tsukimi's ears._

_Tsukimi's eyes widened, filling with tears fueled by rage and sorrow. Clenching her fists at her sides, Tsukimi powered up to her super Saiyan form, glaring sharply at the larger bio-android standing in front of her._

_"I can't just sit by and let this happen!" Clenching her teeth, Tsukimi formed a pair of spirit swords in her hands and ran towards the smirking bio android as quickly as she could._

_Swinging her sword down as hard as she could, only for her eyes to widen when she saw them shatter into pieces in her hands. The very moment they had made contact with Cell's body._

_"H-How could they...?" Tsukimi was completely in shock, she was only snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the dark chuckle of the bio-android in front of her._

_"Was that all you had, little girl?" The green android wore a sinister smirk, making Tsukimi's heart sink in her chest._

_She could feel her body starting to tremble, her fear beginning to come over her once again. "I'm not strong enough, I can't beat him!"_

_The raven-haired girl could only look with wide eyes at the energy ball Cell had formed in the palm of his hand and pointed it towards her. "Good night." He finished with a smirk as the blast was fired._

_Tsukimi squeezed her eyes shut, just waiting for the impact when she suddenly felt something soft being squeezed in her arms, it felt furry... like plush._

_"What the...?"_

_Hearing the blast being deflected, Tsukimi slowly opened her eyes to see the figure of her own father standing in front of her, his back turned to her and had just deflected the blast with his fist._

_"D...Daddy?"_

_Tsukimi's eyes were completely wide with shock, she could only watch as her father gave her a small smile before charging his own energy blast in his hands and quickly fired it at Cell, making him vanish upon impact._

_"Tsukimi.." Tsukimi's eyes began to water, it had been so long since she last saw her father. But he looked exactly as she remembered._

_"Daddy!" The bow-wearing girl threw caution to the wind, rushing towards the man in front of her and wrapped her arms around him tightly. She could feel all of her fears, worries, and nightmares beginning to fade away._

_"Tsukimi, I'm so proud of you." She could still remember the way his voice sounded, that same sweet tone she was so used to hearing, she could breath in his scent, feel his arms around her. There was no mistaking it at all, this was her father._

_"Daddy... I missed you so much..." Tsukimi could feel her tears growing bigger, her fists lightly clenching her father's shirt. Just being with her father like this, she felt like she could finally let go of all of the stress that had built up over time, and finally show the weak side to herself that she never allowed to escape._

_"I know you have. I've missed you too, and your mother and sisters too. I miss you all so much. But it is wonderful to see how powerful my little girl has become." Daichi smiled softly, patting his daughter's head with one hand while gently keeping her close to him in a loving embrace with his other hand._

_"But I'm not powerful... I let my fears get the better of me... I almost let my friends be killed because I was too scared! I'm not strong Daddy! I've just gotten weaker!" Tsukimi couldn't stop the tears that were falling from her eyes._

_Her father has trained her to be a powerful warrior, and just knowing how much she had let her fears take control over her, made her feel completely ashamed and embarrassed of herself._

_"No you haven't. You've become so much stronger since I last saw you, Tsukimi. There is nothing wrong with feeling fear, having fears and emotions does not make you weak. They make you a living being. With a beating heart that shows compassion and love to everyone you're close to." Looking up at her father's gentle smile, Tsukimi only watched as he gently wiped her tears from her cheeks._

_"Remember Tsukimi, no matter what happens. You have to face it with bravery. Nothing lasts forever, including your fears. I know that you'll come out on top. And I'm so proud to have you as my daughter." Tsukimi smiled softly as she felt her father wrap his arms around her._

_She could barely remember the last time she was hugged like this by her father. But just hearing his words gave her new hope. She could feel her earlier fears fading away._

_"Now, I have to go." Opening her eyes, Tsukimi could see Daichi's body beginning to fade into the light._

_"No! Please! Don't leave me again Dad! Please! Mom misses you! I miss you! Aya, Kiri, and Sora miss you too!" Tsukimi looked up at her father with fresh tears in her eyes._

_Her father only looked back down at her, smiling softly. "I love you Tsukimi. And tell your sisters and your mother that I love them too. Nothing will ever change that."_

_"Please Dad…" Tsukimi could just continue to look up at her father, helplessly watching him fade into the light._

* * *

Opening her eyes, Tsukimi could see that she was lying in a bed, with a white ceiling in front of her.

Sitting up on the bed, she looked down with slight surprise at the white teddy bear that was lying beside her.

_"My Teddy bear? But… How did it get here?"_

Picking up the white bear beside her, Tsukimi breathed out a sigh, trying to get her emotions in order after the dream she just experienced.

She then reached up to her face, feeling the tears that had already fallen down her face and began to wipe them away before anyone would come to check on her.

_"How in the world did my teddy bear get here? I didn't bring it with me."_ Tsukimi looked down at the white bear in her hands with a rather confused look.

But she had to admit that it was because of the teddy bear that she was finally able to rid herself of those nightmarish visions that kept haunting her for so long.

And now after hearing those encouraging words from her father, she knew what she had to do.

"Oh, Tsukimi! Did you sleep well?" Tsukimi looked over her shoulder, seeing Kimiko and Kasumi walk into the room.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm feeling a lot more rested now. I'm sorry if I worried you guys. " Kasumi just smiled and patted the girl's back. "Oh relax girl! We know it wasn't your fault, the important thing is that we got our powerhouse back!"

"Powerhouse? What're you talking about?" Tsukimi asked as she started getting up from the bed.

"So far, you're the only one that's been able to turn into a super Saiyan. We've all tried, and trained as hard as we could but none of us have been able to get there. Not even Yuuki can." Kimiko explained with a small sigh.

"So.. I'm pretty much the only one who can stand a fighting chance here." Tsukimi looked at herself in the mirror as she began tying her hair back into its signature ponytail.

"In a nutshell, but that doesn't mean you get all the action to yourself! I've been itching to kick some ass ever since we got here!" Kasumi said with a confident smirk of her own, holding up her fist.

"But do either of you guys know why my teddy bear is here? I mean I don't remember bringing it and I know it's mine." Tsukimi asked as she was adjusting the bow in her hair.

"You don't know? Yuuki's the one who went back to our time to get it. He said something about it helping to stop your nightmares and shit. I wasn't really listening. But it looks like he was right. You look like you at least managed to get some sleep. You sure you don't wanna keep resting?" Kasumi just watched as Tsukimi put on her wrist bands and cracked her knuckles.

"Don't worry about me. Right now, I have something I have to do." Kimiko could only look at her friend with concern on her features. "Are you sure you're okay, Tsukimi?"

The bow-wearing girl looked back at her friends with a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." And with that, walked out of the room. Leaving Kasumi and Kimiko to breath out small sighs.

"She's so not okay. We're gonna have to keep an eye on her during the Cell games. She may look a little better but her mind is still somewhere else. You could see it too right?" Kimiko nodded, sitting on the bed with her own small sigh.

"Is it wrong that I just want all of us to be able to go home together? Because sometimes I wonder if something like that is even possible anymore." Kasumi chuckled slightly and sat down next to her short-haired friend, placing her hand over Kimiko's.

"Relax girl, everything's gonna be fine. We'll beat Cell, learn to live with these weird tails of ours, and finally get back to relaxing for summer break before we have to go back to jail- I mean school." Kasumi chuckled, making Kimiko smile softly.

"I really hope you're right Kasumi."

* * *

Gerome was flying away from Capsule Corp. He knew that the others were preoccupied with their training. But before he could even think about fighting Cell, there was one more thing that he needed to do first.

While he was flying, his red eyes suddenly caught sight of Android 13, standing under a large tree in an open field.

_"So this is where he's been."_

Gerome still has his reservations about going trusting Android 13. He only knew the larger android as nothing but a killing machine created by Dr. Gero. Just like the others.

He still had no idea what Kimiko could have been thinking when she decided to save his life and bring him back with the others.

Breathing out a small sigh, Gerome descended down to the pain. Landing in front of the blonde android who only gave him a passing glance.

"Any reason you came by here, Gerome?"

"I don't know what you're planning. I don't even know why Kimiko decided to spare you."

Android 13 let out a light chuckle and simply looked at the sky. "Neither do I. To be honest, I don't know why she decided to save me. After all of the harm I've done, I've never known someone to show me mercy like this."

He then took a couple of steps forward while adjusting his trucker hat. "But what that green bastard did to 14 and 15, I can't just turn a blind eye to."

"Then what are you going to do?" Gerome asked, seeing the blonde android narrow his silver eyes at the thought.

"Heh, I thought it'd be obvious by now. I'm gonna kill him." Gerome couldn't help but flinch at the cold tone Android 13 had used. He had heard it plenty of times before.

And most often, when he used that tone, his target never made it back alive.

"And after Cell is defeated? What are you going to do then?"

"Kill Goku. What'd you think I was gonna do?" Gerome breathed out a sigh, it was almost impossible to change the mind of someone like Android 13.

Gero's programming was much more embedded into his mind than the other Androids due to him being monitored by Gero's super computer.

But he knew that if he tried to kill Goku, he would just end up getting himself killed, and probably upset Kimiko at that.

"I knew that it would take more than an act of kindness to change your mind." Gerome said as he started heading into the sky once more.

"You should know. That girl, the one who wanted to save me. I can't remember the last time I saw someone like her. She can see the good in people. Even in someone like me. But that ain't gonna last long. Try to keep an eye on her, it won't be long before that innocent little good-girl personality of hers is corrupted by the harshness of reality."

Gerome only looked back at Android 13 for a moment before starting to fly into the sky._ "I'm not going to let that happen. I'm never going to let that happen."_

* * *

The day of the Cell games had arrived. Yuuki was standing outside of Capsule Corp, just trying to think about how he was going to get through this tournament.

He still lacked the ability to turn into a super saiyan. But that was just the least of his worries right now.

His mind was stuck on that horrific future he had seen first hand. All of his family, his hometown, all of it had been destroyed. And all of it was because they hadn't gone back…

And then there was that vision. Seeing Tsukimi sacrificing herself in order to save the Earth from Cell's reign of terror.

_"I can't let that happen! I know that the first bad vision happened but I'm not going to let this one come to pass! I'm not gonna let Tsukimi die!"_

He thought to himself while clenching his fists, trying to get his mind off of everything that he had seen so far.

"Looks like you're ready. Got something on your mind, Yuuki?" Yuuki looked up from his thoughts when he saw Satoshi walking towards him with a small smile.

"Hey Satoshi… Look, can I tell you something and you don't tell the others? I just don't know how to tell them yet so can you keep a secret?" Satoshi chuckled a little and sat down next to the other boy.

"Of course I can. But what's the big secret?" Yuuki let out another sigh. The image of Tsukimi sacrificing herself still fresh in his mind.

"…I can see the future. Well, partly, I think. It's still confusing but I started having these weird I visions. Sometimes they only happen when I touch someone. I know that they have to come true because I saw Tsukimi having her breakdown. And just yesterday I had another one… Tsukimi will try to sacrifice herself to kill Cell. She's going to die along with him. And I just.. I don't know what to do. I can' even turn into a super saiyan, there's no way I'm gonna be able to put up any kind of a fight against Cell like this." Yuuki finished with a sigh, resting his head in his hands.

"Look, Yuuki. I believe you. I mean hell look at where we are. We're about to go fight against an evil giant roach thing. But If you're having these visions then that has to be some kind of warning. The future isn't set in stone, you can change it. And maybe something you do during the Cell games will change your visions' outcome. I can't really help much since I can't see the future but if someone's life is on the line, then you need to take those visions as warnings that you need to change or do something different. Don't worry. I'm sure things will be fine." Satoshi replied, giving Yuuki a cheerful smile, patting his back as he got up.

"Thanks Satoshi. But remember, don't tell the others okay?" Yuuki asked, only to get a grin from the other boy. "My lips are sealed." He said before starting to walk away.

After thinking about what Satoshi said, Yuuki clenched one of his fists and got up from his seat. _"Maybe Satoshi's right! Maybe these visions are just warnings! I can keep Tsukimi from sacrificing herself! I'm going to make sure we all go home together!"_

"Oh, hey Yuuki. I thought you would've left by now." Looking over his shoulder, Yuuki spotted Tsukimi coming out of capsule corp, adjusting one of her wrist bands.

"I was just about to get going. The others already went on ahead but I just had some things I needed to think about, that's all. Are you okay to fight today though? I mean, I know about your sleeping problem and I don't want you pushing yourself." Yuuki just watched as Tsukimi started walking past him with a small smile.

"You know it's funny. To begin with, I only started learning these martial arts because I wanted to make my father proud of me. I wanted to be someone who could help him. Someone he could be proud of. When I think of how I'm finally going to get to use these powers to help others, well… It makes me really happy. I feel like I can finally make a difference with these skills that he gave me." Yuuki smiled softly, he could see from Tsukimi's expression that there was no sign of uncertainty.

Like she knew what she was going to do about this tournament, like if she already had a plan in her mind.

"It's sweet of you to worry about me. I know that you were the one who went back home to get my teddy bear for me. And thank you for that Yuuki. For the first time since all this started, I feel like I'm finally gotten a good night's sleep. And don't worry. Everything's gonna be alright. We're gonna make it home." Tsukimi placed her hand on Yuuki's shoulder. Giving him a bright smile as well.

The boy couldn't help but blush a little bit but found himself smiling back at her as well. "You're right. Come on, let's go win this tournament!" He said as he started flying into the sky, with the saiyan girl following closely after him.

Tsukimi flew a little behind Yuuki, only looking after him as her expression changed to a more seldom one.

_"I'm sorry Yuuki. I already know what I have to do. It's for the good of not only you, but countless other lives. I won't expect you to forgive me for what I plan to do. But I just can't bear the thought of anything happening to you or any of our friends. I only hope you'll understand once it's over."_

* * *

"Yo! Hotaru!" Satoshi had already arrived at the place where the Cell Games were being held. Looking over his shoulder, he already saw that quite some time had already passed.

Gohan was already fighting as hard as he could against the Bio-android, with the rest of the Z fighters only watching the spectacle.

"It's about time you got here. This dumb tournament is already almost over. Where were you?" Hotaru had her arms crossed over her chest, and was standing next to Gerome. Peering her ice blue eyes in her friend's direction.

"Just giving Yuuki a bit of advice. I'm sure he and Tsukimi aren't far behind." Satoshi landed on the ground, giving the current match a passing glance.

But his blue eyes suddenly stopped when they set on a certain blonde Android that was leaning against a rock formation, further away from the others.

"Looks like Android 13 decided to show up. So what do you think of our chances?" Satoshi continued to watch the match but didn't seem very interested in it.

"To be honest, I think our chances are pretty good. I mean it's a lot of us against only one of him. I think we have a good chance at winning this thing." Hotaru's tone was still a little sharp but that was something Satoshi ha grown used to in the years that he's known her.

"Just as long as everyone is clear on the plan. Remember, once Android 13 will go in for a surprise attack, we will create a force field from our energies and trap Cell inside. Once Tsukimi gets here, she will stab her spirit swords through his nucleus, thus, destroying him without any unnecessary sacrifices being made." Akihiko chimed in briefly, still watching the match but seemed to be more focused on Cell than Gohan.

"So Goku doesn't die in this timeline and it'll be easier when Majin Buu decides to roll his fat ass into town." Kasumi added with a chuckle.

"Hopefully we can get that force field up at the right time. I know that Tsukimi and Yuuki wouldn't blow something like this off." Mamoru said with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Of course they wouldn't. This is Tsukimi's chance to get payback. She wants to crush this guy more than anyone. Even me! And he hit me in the face! So she should be thanking me for letting her have this!" The spiky-haired girl finished with a small growl in her voice.

"Not mad huh?" Mamoru gave Kasumi an accusing look before looking around. "Where'd Kimiko go?"

"She said she wanted to talk with Android 13 before the plan were to go into action." Gerome said briefly. But his red eyes were firmly locked on the short-haired girl as she made her way towards the blonde android.

* * *

"I didn't expect to see you here. It looks like Bulma did a good job in helping you." Kimiko started with a small smile.

The blonde android glanced at her from the corner of his eyes before turning them back to the match.

"Why're you here?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were ready for the tournament. I know that you must have a score to settle with Cell. Especially considering what happened to your comrades." Kimiko's eyes briefly traveled back to the match. Just to make sure she was still on time.

"Lil' lady. You really shouldn't be worryin' about me. Let me ask ya' somethin'. Why are ya here? You don't look like the fightin' type. So why are ya puttin' yerself through this?" He watched as the short-haired saiyan girl breathed out a small sigh and started toying with the end of her tail with her fingers.

"To tell the truth. I know that I'm not meant for fighting. I've never had to fight a day in my life before this. But it's because of them. My friends. I can't go back home knowing that I abandoned them just because I was scared of a conflict. I may not like fighting but I don't like abandoning my friends even more. And besides. If this goes well, I will have proven to myself that I can fight. At least a little bit." She finished with a small smile.

And as 13 watched her. It happened again. The ghost of a memory from his former life. Before he was forced to become a killing machine.

And once again, he could see the frame of a woman with the same kind of smile on her face while holding a baby in her arms.

He couldn't remember her face completely. But what he did know was that Kimiko had the same kind of smile.

One that shone of innocence. She could still see the beauty in a world he only saw as a warped and ugly thing. Her view of life and reality were still pure.

But in the back of his mind, he wondered just how long it would stay that way.

"But you remember your role in this plan right? Are you sure you're okay with this?" "The blonde android couldn't help but chuckle under his breath, placing a gloved hand on the girl's head.

"Like I said, you don't have'ta worry 'bout me. I know what I'm supposed'ta do. It'll feel good to shove my fist in the bastard's face." He finished with a smirk.

Kimiko just giggled lightly as she saw that she was beckoned by Akihiko to join the group.

"You know. I know that Gerome has given me a lot of warnings about you. But if you were really as bad a person as he says, then you wouldn't be yearning to avenge your friends like this. Good luck." She smiled at the taller Android before starting to walk off.

Android 13 couldn't help but chuckle once more. She was so innocent. Still so nice and pure. A true rarity in these times.

_"Now I see why Gerome's protective of her."_

* * *

"Hey you guys!" Looking up, the group spotted Yuuki and Tsukimi flying down towards them.

"How much have we missed?" The saiyan boy asked, only to look at the match.

Gohan was already struggling to keep up with Cell. And Cell just continued to try pushing every one of Gohan's buttons. Just to get him to force his true power to the surface.

"We should get ready. You two are clear on the plan right?" Akihiko kept his eyes on Cell, he knew that it was just a mere matter of minutes before he would summon his offspring.

"But shouldn't we be helping Gohan? I mean he looks like he's having a rough time of it." Yuuki was only looking a Gohan, his forehead was bleeding as well as his lip.

The demi-saiyan was still in his super saiyan form but he was obviously having a hard time keeping up with Cell.

"That is not our place. Besides, we have a plan set up just for this occasion. The entire plan rides on you, Tsukimi. You have to strike your spirit swords into his nucleus at just the right moment. Otherwise, this will all be a waste of time." Tsukimi clenched her fists and nodded. Her eyes stuck on the green bio-android that was on the ground below her.

"Don't worry. I know what to do." She was glaring down at Cell. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to attack him right then and there but she knew that she couldn't. She wasn't going to let her emotions get the better of her.

"Well Gohan, it looks like we still haven't gotten you mad. How about some 'Friendly' persuasion?" Cell finished with a smirk, his pink eyes trailing towards the others.

"Let's see…Sixteen. Seems easy enough." He smirked as well as Kasumi. "Alright here he goes. Get ready you guys. We gotta get past these little bastards and get to the big bastard as fast as we can."

"…Am I really the only one who thinks that Cell birthing off spring from his back is gross?" Mamoru asked with a small shudder. "It just looks wrong!"

"Please, I've seen scarier looking shit at the mall." Kasumi smirked, looking down at the small blue bio androids as they began looking around at their new surroundings.

"Now then my little children, those up there on the cliff are your enemies. Give them pain. Even kill them if that would make you happy. Now hop to it!" Cell finished with a sinister smirk, the Cell Jrs all springing into action.

Tsukimi let out a small growl, powering herself to her super saiyan form. Getting into a battle-ready stance. "Come at me you little bastards!" She growled as she quickly dodged a punch from one and tried kicking it in the side.

The Cell Jr just smirked and stuck out its tongue at her before suddenly vanishing and appearing behind Tsukimi, kicking her in the back.

"Tsukimi!" Yuuki called out just to be punched in the stomach by another of the small blue offspring while a second one appeared behind him, licking him into a rock formation.

"Keep your guards up! They are more powerful than we previously anticipated!" Akihiko called, skillfully avoiding a series of punches from one of the blue bio androids before punching it right in the face and forced it off the cliff with an energy blast.

"No duh! Captain obvious! Any other tips?!" Kasumi called, punching one Cell Jr away from her just as another blind-sighted her and punched her harshly in the stomach, sending her spiraling back.

"Kasumi!" Mamoru called out, punching one Cell jr in the face before rushing towards the tanned girl and catching her in his arms. "You alright?"

Kasumi coughed a couple of times as she wiped her mouth. "Yeah, thanks for that. Come on, we have some ass to kick!"

And with that, began flying back towards the battle.

Mamoru could only let out a small sigh. _"These little bastards are tough. Just one punch and I thought my arm was gonna break! Can we really do this?"_

* * *

_Sorry for the impossibly long wait but here's my sorry attempt at pacing! \^o^/_

_Really sorry for the terrible pacing, I promise that the next chapter will be easier to read pacing-wise :3_

_Only two more chapters after this one and then I have a few epilogues to write too so we're nearing the end people! X3_

_And don't worry! I have a few sequels already plotted out so we'll be seeing more action soon enough! :3_


End file.
